The voiced velar lateral approximant is a type of
consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced ...
al sound, used as a distinct consonant in a very small number of
spoken language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
s in the world. The symbol in the
International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is (since 1989) and the equivalent
X-SAMPA
The Extended Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet (X-SAMPA) is a variant of SAMPA developed in 1995 by John C. Wells, professor of phonetics at University College London. It is designed to unify the individual language SAMPA alphabets, a ...
symbol is
L\.
The velar laterals of the world often involve a
prestopped realization .
Features
Features of the voiced velar lateral approximant:
The velar lateral involves no contact of the
tip of the tongue with the roof of the mouth: just like for the velar stop , the only contact takes place between the
back of the tongue and the
velum. This contrasts with the
velarized alveolar lateral approximant – also known as the dark ''l'' in English ''feel'' – for which the apex touches the
alveolar ridge
The alveolar process () or alveolar bone is the thickened ridge of bone that contains the tooth sockets on the jaw bones (in humans, the maxilla and the mandible). The structures are covered by gums as part of the oral cavity.
The synonymous ...
.
Occurrence
See also
*
Voiceless velar lateral approximant,
*
Velarized alveolar lateral approximant,
*