Talk:Velarized alveolar lateral approximant

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Could this consonant also be called an "alveovelar lateral approximant"?  Denelson83  18:40, 15 September 2005 (UTC)

It could be, I suppose, but "alveovelar" is not really a word. The precedent with compounds with "alveolar" is "alveolo-", so if anything it would be "alveolo-velar". Nohat 19:05, 15 September 2005 (UTC)

That is, is [ɫ] truly [lˠ], or is it [l͡ɰ]?

I'm not sure. Phonetically, it's difficult to distinguish between doubly articulated approximants and secondary articulation, since 2ary articulation is approximant-like. However, phonologically, this sound is a velarized alveolar in all languages that I'm aware of:

• In English, [lˠ] is an allophone of [l]
• In Russian and Turkish, [lˠ] contrasts with [lʲ]
• In Marshalese, [lˠ] is part of a series of velarized consonants, such as [nˠ]

Also, except for clicks, no other alveolar-velar consonant has ever been attested in any language. This makes it doubtful (though certainly not impossible) that [ɫ] is an alveolar-velar [l͡ɰ] in any language either. kwami 19:23, 15 September 2005 (UTC)

I added a section on Scottish gaelic and the three different 'l's, but I can't decide if it's confusing to read... thoughts? Lliamm 09:54, 23 August 2006 (UTC)