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Re: Alborgian/ Borgi

From:Eric Christopherson <rakko@...>
Date:Thursday, May 29, 2008, 2:18
On May 28, 2008, at 5:43 PM, Tristan McLeay wrote:

> On 29/05/08 05:57:01, Ingmar Roerdinkholder wrote: >> >> Thanks Weeping Elf! eLf with a Lateral as weLL I guess? >> but, how are the different kinds of L called. The LL in Arabic aLLah >> or English >> aLL, and the L in English leap or Arabic Layl? > > The "l" in RP "all" is called a dark or velarised l or in full a > voiced > velarised alveolar lateral approximate.
Approximant. </nitpicky>
> The "l" in RP "leap" is called > a clear l or in full a voiced alveolar lateral approximate. The LL in > Arabic "Allah" is an emphatic or pharyngealised l (i.e. a voiced > pharyngealised alveolar lateral approximate).
I think in some dialects it is velarized as are the other emphatics sometimes, as I understand it; but I don't know if the dialects using velarized L are necessarily the same ones that velarized e.g. s.aad.
> The place of articulation > with "-ised" means that a central (i.e. non-lateral) approximate is > made in this area. It depends on the native language whether it begins > before, concurrently with, or after the lateral approximate.
Interesting! I never knew there was much leeway there.
> > Note also that the distribution of English "l" is particular to the > dialect. Many dialects of the British isles only use the clear l > (either because they always have, or because of influence from Celtic > languages, or because the dark l has been vocalised) whereas others > and > Australian English only uses the dark l (either because of influence > from Celtic languages or because the velarising tendency that > apparently grew up in the 19th century spread to all tokens). American > English uses both, but the distribution is apparently different from > RP. I can't tell you exactly what it is; I expect it's only different > when it is has vowels on both sides.
I have never really been able to perceive the difference in my own speech or in that of most other Americans. However, there are some people who have a very "dark"-sounding /l/, which actually sounds like me more like a velar approximant; whether it's lateral or central I'm not sure. Tom Brokaw is the best example I can think of, and I think fellow newsman Robert Bezell too maybe. Does anyone know exactly how to characterize their /l/?

Reply

Tristan McLeay <conlang@...>YAEPT: Characterising English /l/s (was: Re: Alborgian/ Borgi)