I have come across some strange descriptions of a type of dark-l in American 
English in three textbooks, and wonder whether anyone else on the list would 
like to comment.

For example, Kent & Shriberg in ‘Clinical Phonetics’ 3rd edition (Allyn & 
Bacon, 2003) state that “Alveolar contact is not a necessary feature of the 
sound. Particularly in word-final position /l/ may be produced without such 
contact…” (p70) An x-ray tracing is given of a tongue shape with 
velarization and slight tongue tip raising.  An x-ray study by Giles in 1971 
is cited as the source (this is an unpublished thesis from Uni Iowa).

Larry Small’s ‘Phonetics: A Practical Guide for students’ (Allyn & Bacon, 
1999) states on dark-L “The tongue tip is lowered, and the back of the 
tongue is raised to approximate the palate as the airstream passes over both 
sides of the tongue” (p145). This account seems to deny any possibility of 
tongue-tip contact. Also, it is interesting that Small specifies BOTH sides 
of the tongue and doesn't specify the SOFT palate!

Finally, Edwards in ‘Applied Phonetics: The sounds of American English’ 3rd 
edition (Delmar, 2003) claims that English has a ‘post-palatal or velar’ 
lateral [L] allophone (p211). This, he claims, is a free variant found for 
both clear and dark-l, as in for example ‘blue’ /bLu/ (bracket usage: 
Edwards). This is not described articulatorily, but I assume may be intended 
to be the same as the other two books’ dark-l with no tongue-tip contact.


To be honest, I am assuming that there may be some confusion here with 
vocalized realizations of dark-l – but if this is so, why the insistence 
that lateral airflow still occurs?

I’m interested in peoples’ reactions to these descriptions. 

- Are these authors simply referring to a vocalized realization of dark-l? 
- Is it possible to produce an approximant with no tongue-palate contact but 
WITH lateral airflow? 
- If this is so, how would one symbolize it? 
- Even if this is possible, has anyone heard such a sound in American 
English? 
- Is Edwards confusing his symbols, or do some American speakers produce a 
[L]: a lateral with tongue-velar contact? 
 
Any reactions welcome


Martin

Martin J. Ball, PhD 
President, ICPLA 
Hawthorne-Regents' Distinguished Professor 
Department of Communicative Disorders 
University of Louisiana at Lafayette