The /l/ sound

The /l/ sound 2 possible pronunciations (allophones) Clear-L (Light-L) Dark-L

Clear-L (or light-L) the /l/ is the same alveolar lateral as in Hungarian Examples: before a vowel: lip, look, love, slip, killing, taller before /j/: value, million, volume

Dark-L Velarized the tongue moves to the soft palate (velum) Followed by a consonant or a pause The rule of L-darkening L-darkening refers to RP only! in GA, /l/ is dark in all positions

Dark-L Before a consonant: spilt belch killed else tallness Before a pause: pill bell kill stale tall

Clear-L vs. Dark-L

Syllabic /l/ One type of word-final /l/ is always dark Syllabic /l/ the /l/ is found in a syllable that lacks a vowel The /l/ is considered to take up the role of the vowel e.g.: cycle /saɪkɫ/; channel /ʧænɫ/

L-vocalization in some none-standard varieties dark-L is often articulated as an [o] like vowel e.g.: milk /mɪok/; shelf /ʃeof/ the consonant /l/ is replaced by a vowel

Now it’s the experts’ turn… http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/sounds/con_other_5.shtml http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t73MKAQszM

…and here comes the self-made expert http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNlQ5ta5GxM (01:30-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDrHT90kWwk

Practice time! People are awfully lazy in the middle of July. The police compelled the folk dancers to leave the hall. Gerald walked alone till about half past twelve.

Practice time! People are awfully lazy in the middle of July. The police compelled the folk dancers to leave the hall. Gerald walked alone till about half past twelve.

References Balogné Bérces Katalin, Szentgyörgyi Szilárd ed., Az angol nyelv kiejtése – The Pronunciation of English. Budapest: Bölcsész Konzorcium, 2006. pp.20-22. Nádasdy Ádám. Practice Book in English Phonetics and Phonology. Budapest: Nemzeti Tankönyvkiadó, 2003. Picture from: http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~krussll/138/sec3/vowel.htm