Velarized alveolar lateral approximant

The velarized alveolar lateral approximant (also called dark l) is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ɫ, which is a lowercase letter l, with a struck-through tilde, which represents velarization. The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is 5.

Features

Features of the velarized alveolar lateral approximant:

• Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by bringing one articulator close to another but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced.
• Its place of articulation is alveolar which means it is articulated with the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge. It is also velarized, meaning the back of the tongue is also against the soft palate, or velum.
• Its phonation type is voiced, which means the vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation.
• It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth.
• It is a lateral consonant, which means it is produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the sides of the tongue, rather than the middle of the tongue.
• The airstream mechanism is pulmonic egressive, which means it is articulated by pushing air out of the lungs and through the vocal tract, rather than from the glottis or the mouth.

In English

The velarized lateral alveolar approximant occurs in English, and it is the sound denoted by the letter 'l' in bell and milk. The sound denoted by the letter 'l' in lip or please, however, is a different sound, the non-velarized or "plain" alveolar lateral approximant.

Many (though not all) dialects of English use a velarized or dark l when it occurs in syllable codas, with various exceptions that depend on dialect. Irish English is a notable exception, which uses clear l everywhere, and some English accents use [w], [u] or [o] instead of dark l's.