Velarized alveolar lateral approximant

Velarized alveolar lateral approximant
The velarized alveolar lateral approximant (a.k.a. dark l) is a type of consonantal sound used in some languages. It is an alveolar, denti-alveolar, or dental lateral approximant, with a secondary articulation of velarization or pharyngealization. The regular symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represent this sound are ⟨lˠ⟩ (for a velarized lateral) and ⟨lˤ⟩ (for a pharyngealized lateral), though the dedicated letter ⟨ɫ⟩, which covers both velarization and pharyngealization, is perhaps more common. The last symbol should never be confused with ⟨ɬ⟩, which represents the voiceless alveolar lateral fricative. However, some scholars use that symbol to represent the velarized alveolar lateral approximant anyway – such usage is considered non-standard.

If the sound is dental or denti-alveolar, one could use a dental diacritic to indicate so: ⟨l̪ˠ⟩, ⟨l̪ˤ⟩, ⟨ɫ̪⟩.

Velarization and pharyngealization are generally associated with more dental articulations of coronal consonants, so dark l tends to be dental or denti-alveolar. Clear (non-velarized) l tends to be retracted to an alveolar position.

The terms "soft l" and "hard l" are not equivalent to "light l" and "dark l". The former pair refers to palatalized ("soft" or iotated) and plain ("hard") Slavic consonants.

Features
Features of the dark l:


 * There are four specific variants of :
 * Dental, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the upper teeth.
 * Denti-alveolar, which means it is articulated with the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, and the tip of the tongue behind upper teeth.
 * Alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or, more rarely, the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
 * Postalveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
 * It has a secondary articulation of velarization or pharyngealization, meaning that the back or root of the tongue approaches the soft palate (velum), or the back of the throat, respectively.