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IPA – number	155
IPA – text	l
IPA – image
Entity	l
X-SAMPA	l
Kirshenbaum	l
Sound sample (help·info)

The alveolar lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar lateral approximants is l, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is l.

As a sonorant, lateral approximants are nearly always voiced. Voiceless lateral approximants are common in Tibeto-Burman languages, but uncommon elsewhere. In such cases, voicing typically starts about halfway through the hold of the consonant.

Features

Features of the alveolar lateral approximant:

• Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by bringing one articulator close to another but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced.
• Its place of articulation is alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue — termed respectively apical and laminal — against the alveolar ridge.
• Its phonation type is voiced, which means the vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation.
• It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth.
• It is a lateral consonant, which means it is produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the sides of the tongue, rather than the middle of the tongue.
• The airstream mechanism is pulmonic egressive, which means it is articulated by pushing air out of the lungs and through the vocal tract, rather than from the glottis or the mouth.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Abkhaz		мгьал	[mɡʲal]	'bread'
Arabic	Standard[1]	صلاة	[sˤɑˈlaːh]	'prayer/salat'
Chechen		лам/lam	[laːm]	'mountain'
Chinese	Mandarin	老/lǎo	[lɑʊ˨˩˦]	'old'	See Mandarin phonology
Czech		lis	[lɪs]	'press'	See Czech phonology
Dutch		leven	[leːvə(n)]	'to live'	See Dutch phonology
English		let	[lɛt]	'let'	See English phonology
Finnish		illalla	[ilːɑlːɑ]	'at evening'	See Finnish phonology
French		lune	[lyn]	'moon'	See French phonology
Georgian[2]		ლუდი	[ludi]	'beer'
German		Liebe	[liːbə]	'love'	See German phonology
Greek		καλόγερος	[käˈlo̞ʝe̞ro̞s]	'monk'	See Modern Greek phonology
Hungarian		elem	[ɛlɛm]	'battery'	See Hungarian phonology
Italian[3]		letto	[ˈlɛtto]	'bed'	See Italian phonology
Malay		lagi	[laɡi]	'again'
Melpa[4]		[lola]		'speak improperly'
Ngwe	Njoagwi dialect	[lɛ̀rɛ́]		'eye'
Norwegian		liv	[liːv]	'life'	See Norwegian phonology
Pashto		لس	[ləs]	'ten'
Polish[5]		pole	[ˈpɔlɛ] (help·info)	'field'	See Polish phonology
Portuguese	Brazilian	lua	[ˈluɐ]	'moon'	See Portuguese phonology
Romanian		alună	[aˈlu.nə]	'hazelnut'	See Romanian phonology
Slovak		lis	[lis]	'press'
Spanish[6]		hablar	[aˈβ̞laɾ]	'to speak'	See Spanish phonology
Swedish		allt	[alt]	'everything'	See Swedish phonology
Tamil[7]		புலி	[puli]	'tiger'	See Tamil phonology
Tibetan		ལྷ་ས་	[l̥ásə]	'Lhasa'	Contrasts voiced and voiceless lateral approximants
Vietnamese		lu	[lu]	'fuzzy; dim'	See Vietnamese phonology
Zapotec	Tilquiapan[8]	lan	[laŋ]	'soot'
Zulu[9]		lala	[lálà]	'sleep'

See also

• List of phonetics topics

References

Bibliography

• Jassem, Wiktor (2003), "Polish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (1): 103–107 
• Keane, Elinor (2004), "Tamil", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (1): 111–116 
• Ladefoged, Peter (2005). Vowels and Consonants (Second ed.). Blackwell. 
• Martínez-Celdrán, Eugenio; Fernández-Planas, Ana Ma.; Carrera-Sabaté, Josefina (2003), "Castilian Spanish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (2): 255–259 
• Merrill, Elizabeth (2008), "Tilquipan Zapotec", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 38 (1): 107–114 
• Rogers, Derek; d'Arcangeli, Luciana (2004), "Italian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (1): 117–121 
• Shosted, Ryan K.; Vakhtang, Chikovani (2006), "Standard Georgian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 36 (2): 255–264 
• Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 20 (2): 37–41