Velar lateral approximant

The velar lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used 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⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is L\.

Features

Features of the 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 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 lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

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

Occurrence

See also

• List of phonetics topics
• Velarized alveolar lateral approximant (an acoustically similar but articulatorily distinct sound)
• Voiceless velar lateral fricative
• Voiced velar lateral fricative

References

Bibliography

• François, Alexandre (2010), "Phonotactics and the prestopped velar lateral of Hiw: resolving the ambiguity of a complex segment", Phonology 27 (3): 393–434, http://128.232.233.5/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7951801&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0952675710000205 
• Ladefoged, Peter (2005). Vowels and Consonants (Second ed.). Blackwell. 
• Roca, Iggy; Johnson, Wyn (1999). A Course in Phonology. Blackwell Publishing.