Voiced velar lateral approximant
ʟ
IPA Number	158
Audio sample
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Encoding
Entity (decimal)	ʟ
Unicode (hex)	U+029F
X-SAMPA	L\
Braille
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The voiced velar lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used as a distinct consonant in a very small number^[1] of spoken languages in the world. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ʟ⟩ a small capital version of the Latin letter l (since 1989), and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is L\.

The velar laterals of the world often involve a prestopped realization [ɡ͡ʟ].^[2]

Features

Features of the voiced velar 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 velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the soft palate.
• 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 intercostal muscles and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

The velar lateral [ʟ] involves no contact of the tip of the tongue with the roof of the mouth: just like for the velar stop [ɡ], the only contact takes place between the back of the tongue and the velum. This contrasts with the velarized alveolar lateral approximant [ɫ] – also known as the dark l in English feel [fiːɫ] – for which the apex touches the alveolar ridge.^[3]

Occurrence