L

Usage

In English, L can have several values, depending on whether it occurs before or after a vowel. The alveolar lateral approximant (IPA {{IPA|/l/}}) occurs before a vowel, as in lip or please, while the velarized alveolar lateral approximant (IPA {{IPA|/ɫ/}}) occurs in bell and milk (see Dark L). This velarization does not occur in many European languages that use L, and is also a factor making L difficult to pronounce for users of languages such as Japanese or Chinese that either lack or have different values for L.

Related Topics:
English - Alveolar lateral approximant - IPA - Velarized alveolar lateral approximant - Dark L - Japanese - Chinese

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L can occur before almost any plosive, fricative, or affricate in English. Common digraphs include LL, which has a value identical to L in English but has the separate value voiceless alveolar lateral fricative (IPA {{IPA|/ɬ/}}) in Welsh, where it can appear in an initial position.

Related Topics:
Plosive - Fricative - Affricate - Voiceless alveolar lateral fricative - Welsh

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A palatalised L (IPA {{IPA|/ʎ/}}) occurs in many languages, and is represented by GL in Italian, LL in certain varieties of Spanish, and LH in Portuguese.

Related Topics:
Italian - Spanish - Portuguese

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