Voiced velar lateral approximant
The voiced velar lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used as a distinct consonant in a very small number of spoken languages in the world. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ʟ⟩, a small capital version of the Latin letter l (since 1989), and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is L\.
The velar laterals of the world often involve a prestopped realization [ɡ͡ʟ].
Features
Features of the voiced velar lateral approximant:
- Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulent airstream.
- Its place of articulation is velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the soft palate.
- Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
- It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
- It is a lateral consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream over the sides of the tongue, rather than down the middle.
- Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.
The velar lateral [ʟ] involves no contact of the tip of the tongue with the roof of the mouth: just like for the velar stop [ɡ], the only contact takes place between the back of the tongue and the velum. This contrasts with the velarized alveolar lateral approximant [ɫ] – also known as the dark l in English feel [fiːɫ] – for which the apex touches the alveolar ridge.
Occurrence
See also
- Voiceless velar lateral approximant, [ʟ̥]
- Velarized alveolar lateral approximant, [ɫ]
- Voiceless alveolar lateral fricative, [ɬ]
- Velar lateral tap, [ʟ̆]
- Voiced velar lateral fricative, [ʟ̝]
- Voiceless velar lateral fricative, [ʟ̝̊] or extIPA [𝼄]
- Index of phonetics articles