Re: Alborgian/ Borgi

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