Voiced velar lateral approximant

Common card · No. 331643

A 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 has represented this sound since 1989 is ⟨ʟ⟩, a small capital letter l. Velar laterals often involve a prestopped realization [ᶢʟ]. According to Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), the extremely short duration of /ʟ/ in intervocalic position (20–30 ms) in some of the languages in New Guinea, such as Kanite and Melpa, warrants calling it a voiced velar lateral tap. The IPA has no specific symbol for this sound, but it may be represented with a breve for extra-short, such as ⟨ʟ̆⟩, to indicate a tapped consonant. It is reported that some dialects of English may have a voiced uvular lateral approximant, which can be represented in the IPA as ⟨ʟ̠⟩ (a retracted ⟨ʟ⟩), though evidence of this consonant is limited.

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