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Consonant
L Sound
The L sound is a voiced alveolar lateral approximant. Airflow is blocked centrally by the tongue tip touching the alveolar ridge, but escapes around the sides of the tongue.
l
Phonetic System (Merriam-Webster):
lWatch the Sound
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Example Words
Main Example
light
Phonetic:
/laɪt/Common Words
light
/laɪt/like
/laɪk/love
/lʌv/look
/lʊk/hello
/həˈloʊ/feel
/fil/ball
/bɔl/table
/ˈteɪbəl/little
/ˈlɪtəl/blue
/blu/Minimal Pairs
Listen and compare similar sounds
l
light
/laɪt/Compare with
L
right
/raɪt/l
low
/loʊ/Compare with
L
row
/roʊ/l
lead
/lid/Compare with
L
read
/rid/l
belly
/ˈbɛli/Compare with
B
berry
/ˈbɛri/l
lip
/lɪp/Compare with
L
rip
/rɪp/Tongue Twister
Larry sent the latter letter later.|Lovely little lollipops line long lasting lanes.|Lucy likes light blue lilies and lovely lemons.|A little lady lightly lit a little lattice lamp.
Try it yourself
Practice saying this tongue twister
Technical Details
- CategoryConsonant
- VoicingVoiced
- Place of ArticulationAlveolar
- Manner of ArticulationLateral Approximant (Liquid)
- Mouth PositionPlace the tip of your tongue on the alveolar ridge (the bumpy spot behind your upper front teeth). Keep the tongue tip there while voicing, allowing air to flow around the sides of the tongue. The back of the tongue position varies for light L (usually lower) vs. dark L (usually higher, often found at ends of words or after vowels in American English).