Alveolar Lateral Approximant Information
The alveolar lateral approximant, also known as clear l, is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar lateral approximants is ⟨l⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is l.
As a sonorant, lateral approximants are nearly always voiced. Voiceless lateral approximants are common in Tibeto-Burman languages, but uncommon elsewhere. In such cases, voicing typically starts about halfway through the hold of the consonant.
In a number of languages, including most varieties of English, the phoneme /l/ becomes velarized in certain contexts, a sound often called "dark l."
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Features
Features of the alveolar 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 alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
- 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.
- The airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.
Occurrence
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abkhaz | мгьал | [mɡʲal] | 'bread' | See Abkhaz phonology | |
| Adyghe | лы | [lə] | 'meat' | ||
| Albanian | lis | [lɪs] | 'tree' | ||
| Arabic | Standard[1] | لا | [laː] | 'no' | See Arabic phonology |
| Armenian | լուսին | [lusin] (help·info) | 'moon' | ||
| Basque | lan | [lan] | 'work' | ||
| Bulgarian | лимон | [limɔn] | 'lemon' | ||
| Catalan | tela | [ˈtɛlə] | 'fabric' | May also be velarized. See Catalan phonology | |
| Chechen | лам/lam | [laːm] | 'mountain' | ||
| Chinese | Cantonese | 老/lou5 | [lou˩˧˦] | 'old' | See Cantonese phonology |
| Mandarin | 老/lǎo | [lɑʊ˨˩˦] | 'old' | See Mandarin phonology | |
| Czech | lis | [lɪs] | 'press' | See Czech phonology | |
| Dutch | leven | [leːvə(n)] | 'to live' | See Dutch phonology | |
| English | let | [lɛt] | 'let' | See English phonology | |
| Finnish | illalla | [ilːɑlːɑ] | 'at evening' | See Finnish phonology | |
| French | il | [il] | 'he' | See French phonology | |
| Georgian[2] | ლუდი | [ludi] | 'beer' | ||
| German | Liebe | [liːbə] | 'love' | See German phonology | |
| Greek | άλμα/álma | [ˈalma] | 'jump' | See Modern Greek phonology | |
| Hebrew | לא | [lo̞] | 'no' | See Modern Hebrew phonology | |
| Hungarian | elem | [ɛlɛm] | 'battery' | See Hungarian phonology | |
| Innu-aimun | Western dialect | iñnu | [i:lnu] | 'human being' | |
| Italian[3] | letto | [ˈlɛtto] | 'bed' | See Italian phonology | |
| Kabardian | лы | [lə] | 'meat' | ||
| Kagayanen[4] | ? | [sala] | 'living room' | ||
| Korean | 물집/muljip | [mult͡ɕ̤ip̚] | 'blister' | See Korean phonology | |
| Malay | lagi | [laɡi] | 'again' | ||
| Melpa[5] | [lola] | 'speak improperly' | |||
| Ngwe | Njoagwi dialect | [lɛ̀rɛ́] | 'eye' | ||
| Norwegian | liv | [liːv] | 'life' | See Norwegian phonology | |
| Pashto | لس | [ləs] | 'ten' | ||
| Polish[6] | pole | [ˈpɔlɛ] (help·info) | 'field' | See Polish phonology | |
| Portuguese | Brazilian | lua | [ˈluɐ] | 'moon' | See Portuguese phonology |
| Romanian | alună | [aˈlu.nə] | 'hazelnut' | See Romanian phonology | |
| Russian | ключ | [klʲʉtɕ] | 'key' | Contrasts palatalized and velarized variants. See Russian phonology | |
| Slovak[7] | mľkvy | [ˈml̩ːkʋɪ] | 'silent' | Syllabic form can be long or short | |
| Spanish[8] | hablar | [aˈβ̞laɾ] | 'to speak' | See Spanish phonology | |
| Swedish | allt | [alt] | 'everything' | See Swedish phonology | |
| Tamil[9] | புலி | [puli] | 'tiger' | See Tamil phonology | |
| Tibetan | ལྷ་ས་ | [l̥ásə] | 'Lhasa' | Contrasts voiced and voiceless lateral approximants | |
| Ukrainian | обличчя | [ɔˈblɪt͡ʃʲːɑ] | 'face' | See Ukrainian phonology | |
| Vietnamese[10] | lửa | [lɨə˧˩˧] | 'fire' | See Vietnamese phonology | |
| West Frisian | lyts | [lit͡s] | 'small' | In complementary distribution with [ɫ]; occurs before [i] and [y] | |
| Yi | ꇁ/la | [la˧] | 'come' | ||
| Zapotec | Tilquiapan[11] | lan | [laŋ] | 'soot' | |
| Zulu[12] | lala | [lálà] | 'sleep' | ||
See also
References
- ^ Thelwall (1990:38)
- ^ Shosted & Chikovani (2006:255)
- ^ Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004:117)
- ^ Olson et al. (2010:206–207)
- ^ Ladefoged (2005:169)
- ^ Jassem (2003:103)
- ^ Hanulíková & Hamann (2010:374)
- ^ Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003:255)
- ^ Keane (2004:111)
- ^ Thompson (1959:458–461)
- ^ Merrill (2008:108)
- ^ Ladefoged (2005:170)
Bibliography
- Hanulíková, Adriana; Hamann, Silke (2010), "Slovak", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 40 (3): 373–378, doi:10.1017/S0025100310000162
- Jassem, Wiktor (2003), "Polish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (1): 103–107, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001191
- Keane, Elinor (2004), "Tamil", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (1): 111–116, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001549
- Ladefoged, Peter (2005), Vowels and Consonants (Second ed.), Blackwell
- Martínez-Celdrán, Eugenio; Fernández-Planas, Ana Ma.; Carrera-Sabaté, Josefina (2003), "Castilian Spanish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (2): 255–259, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001373
- Merrill, Elizabeth (2008), "Tilquiapan Zapotec", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 38 (1): 107–114
- Olson, Kenneth; Mielke, Jeff; Sanicas-Daguman, Josephine; Pebley, Carol Jean; Paterson, Hugh J., III (2010), "The phonetic status of the (inter)dental approximant", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 40 (2): 199–215, doi:10.1017/S0025100309990296
- Rogers, Derek; d'Arcangeli, Luciana (2004), "Italian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (1): 117–121, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001628
- Shosted, Ryan K.; Vakhtang, Chikovani (2006), "Standard Georgian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 36 (2): 255–264, doi:10.1017/S0025100306002659
- Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 20 (2): 37–41
- Thompson, Laurence (1959), "Saigon phonemics", Language 35 (3): 454–476, doi:10.2307/411232, JSTOR 411232
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