| Ipa Symbol: | ʟ |
| Ipa Number: | 158 |
| Decimal: | 671 |
| X-Sampa: | L\ |
| Braille: | in |
| Braille2: | l |
| Imagefile: | IPA Unicode 0x029F.svg |
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 (IPA|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 pronounced as /[ɡ͡ʟ]/.
Features of the voiced velar lateral approximant:
The velar lateral pronounced as /[ʟ]/ involves no contact of the tip of the tongue with the roof of the mouth: just like for the velar stop pronounced as /[ɡ]/, the only contact takes place between the back of the tongue and the velum. This contrasts with the velarized alveolar lateral approximant pronounced as /[ɫ]/ – also known as the dark l in English feel pronounced as /[fiːɫ]/ – for which the apex touches the alveolar ridge.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Southern US | middle | [ˈmɪɾʟ̩] | 'middle' | May occur before or after a velar consonant, as in milk and cycle, when assimilating /ʊ/, as in wolf, or before labial consonants, as in help. See English phonology | |
| full | [ˈfʟ̩ː] | 'full' | ||||
| Hiw | r̄evr̄ov | pronounced as /[ɡ͡ʟəβˈɡ͡ʟɔβ]/ | 'evening' | Realized as prestopped pronounced as /[ɡ͡ʟ]/. | ||
| Melpa | paⱡa | 'fence' | Realized as prestopped pronounced as /[ɡ͡ʟ]/. | |||
| Mid-Wahgi | aglagle | pronounced as /[aʟaʟe]/ | 'dizzy' | Realized as prestopped pronounced as /[ɡ͡ʟ]/. | ||
pronounced as /navigation/