Re: Describing the Welsh LL to non-linguists

I usually describe it as a "harsh voiceless l" (where the "harshness"
implies the difference between the approximant and the fricative).
Even more non-linguistic maybe that it is a "raw hissing sound" (well,
"hissing" to me implies high-pitch, is there some other word for
"low-pitch hissing"? That would be more accurate). With the
synaesthesia turned on I would say that it taste as gooseberry and
feels like a refreshing breeze.

For someone to learn how to pronounce it I say: Pronounce /l/, but
without vibrations of the vocal cords, and push the tongue harder to
the upper part of the mouth, so that it makes a sound of friction.
Then I give an example, but that can be hard in writing.

As for orthography, I use <λ> for my conlangs. And <ł> is used in some natlangs.

--
Veoler


Arthaey Angosii wrote:
> This may be a somewhat unusual request for Conlang-L, but it *is*
> linguistics-related, so I'll ask anyway.
>
> I'm writing a story for NaNoWriMo and in it, my main character trips
> over pronouncing a word that starts with /ɬ/. How would a non-linguist
> describe how it sounds or feels to pronounce? I'm not entirely sure
> *I* am pronouncing /ɬ/ right, so your descriptions will also help me.
> :) This is only mentioned in passing, since I'm not writing in the
> Phonology Thriller genre ;) but I would still like to get the
> description right.
>
> Also, what transliterations are there besides "ll" for voiceless
> lateral fricatives?
>
>
> Thanks,
> AA
>

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