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Reference.org
Voiced dental, alveolar and postalveolar lateral approximants
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<p>The voiced dental, alveolar, and postalveolar lateral approximants are a type of <a href="/facts/Consonant/81X2SGS6">consonantal</a> sound used in many <a href="/facts/Speech/WEelhfTs">spoken</a> <a href="/facts/Language/IRcTok2q">languages</a>. The symbol in the <a href="/facts/International_Phonetic_Alphabet/2e7jmUaG">International Phonetic Alphabet</a> that represents <a href="/facts/Dental_consonant/Yraaz9Nm">dental</a>, <a href="/facts/Alveolar_consonant/B6VkW2EX">alveolar</a>, and <a href="/facts/Postalveolar_consonant/YUo5nJly">postalveolar</a> <a href="/facts/Lateral_consonant/Mcyc1or8">lateral</a> <a href="/facts/Approximant_consonant/SXrlw7zY">approximants</a> is ⟨l⟩, and the equivalent <a href="/facts/X-SAMPA/LEkkVBgw">X-SAMPA</a> symbol is l. </p><p>As a <a href="/facts/Sonorant/D1kkuEby">sonorant</a>, lateral approximants are nearly always voiced. <a href="/facts/Voiceless_dental%2c_alveolar_and_postalveolar_lateral_approximants/Vzem3juJ">Voiceless lateral approximants</a>, /l̥/ are common in <a href="/facts/Sino-Tibetan_languages/kfdM7pTx">Sino-Tibetan languages</a>, but uncommon elsewhere. In such cases, voicing typically starts about halfway through the hold of the consonant. No language is known to contrast such a sound with a <a href="/facts/Voiceless_alveolar_lateral_fricative/Vzem3juJ">voiceless alveolar lateral fricative</a> [ɬ]. </p><p>In a number of languages, including most varieties of English, the phoneme /l/ becomes <a href="/facts/Velarization/r0vmyV4T">velarized</a> ("dark l") in certain contexts. By contrast, the non-velarized form is the "clear <i>l</i>" (also known as: "light <i>l</i>"), which occurs before and between vowels in certain English standards. Some languages have only clear <i>l</i>. Others may not have a clear <i>l</i> at all, or have them only before <a href="/facts/Front_vowel/htKQs3AT">front vowels</a> (especially [<a href="/facts/Close_front_unrounded_vowel/rSUdlCPU">i</a>]). </p>