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In linguistics, l-vocalization is a process by which an /l/ sound is replaced by a vowel or semivowel sound. This happens most often to velarized /ɫ/.

L-vocalization in English

L-vocalization is a notable feature of certain dialects of English, including New Zealand English, Cockney and Estuary English, in which an /l/ sound occurring at the end of a word or before a consonant is replaced with the semivowel /w/, and a syllabic /l/ replaced by vowels like /o/ or /ʊ/, resulting in pronunciations such as [mɪwk], for milk, and [ˈmɪdo], for middle. It can be heard occasionally in the dialect of the English East Midlands, where words ending in -old can be pronounced /oʊd/.

Especially in New Zealand English and Cockney, l-vocalization can be accompanied by phonemic mergers of vowels before the vocalized /l/. For example, real, reel and rill, which are distinct in Received Pronunciation, are homophones in Cockney as [ɹɪw].

In the accent of Bristol, syllabic /l/ vocalized to /o/, resulting in pronunciations like /ˈbɒto/ (for bottle). By hypercorrection, however, some words originally ending in /o/ had this sound replaced by syllabic /l/: the original name of the town was Bristow, but this has been altered by hypercorrection to Bristol.^[1]

In the United States, the dark L in Pittsburgh and African-American Vernacular English dialects may change to an /o/ or /w/. In African American Vernacular, it may be omitted altogether (i.e. fool becomes [fu], cereal becomes [ˈsiɹio]). Some English speakers from San Francisco - particularly those of Asian ancestry - also vocalize or omit /l/.

L-vocalization in other languages

• In early 15th century Middle Scots /al/ (except intervocalically and before /d/), /ol/ and often /ul/ changed to /au/, /ou/ and /uː/. For example all changed to aw, hald to haud (hold), colt to cowt, ful to fou (full).
• In Dutch, the combinations old ('old') and holt ('wood') changed to oud and hout during the Middle Ages.
• In Brazilian Portuguese, historical [ɫ] (/l/ in in the syllable coda) has become the semivowel [w]. For example, the words mau (bad) and mal (badly) are both pronounced [maw].
• In Polish and Sorbian languages, all historical /ɫ/ have become /w/, even in word-initial and inter-vocalic position. For example, Polish ładny "pretty, nice" is pronounced [ˈwadnɨ]; słowo "word" is [ˈswɔvɔ]; and mały "small" in both Polish and Sorbian is [ˈmawɨ] (cf. Russian малый [ˈmaɫɨj]). The /w/ pronunciation dates back to the 16th century, first appearing among peasants. It was considered an uncultured accent until the mid-20th century when this stigma gradually began to fade. As of the early 2000s, /ɫ/ can still be used by some speakers of eastern Polish dialects, especially in Belarus and Lithuania.
• In Ukrainian, at the end of a closed syllable, historical /ɫ/ has become /w/. For example, the Ukrainian word for "wolf" is вовк /ʋowk/, cf. Russian вoлк [voɫk].
• In Serbo-Croatian, a historical /l/ in coda position has become /o/ and is now so spelled. For example, the Serbo-Croatian name of Belgrade is Beograd.
• In Austro-Bavarian, the etymological /l/ is vocalised, only after front vowels, into i or y, e.g. vui corresponding with High German viel ("much").
• In Bernese German, a historical /l/ in coda position has become [w], a historical /lː/ (only occurring intervocalically) has become /wː/, whereas intervocalic /l/ persists. The absence of vocalization was one of the distinctive features of the upper class variety which is not much spoken anymore. For example, the German name of the city of Biel is pronounced [ˈb̥iə̯w].
• In Bulgarian, young people often pronounce the [ɫ] of the standard language as [w] or [o], especially in an informal context. For example, pronunciations which could be transcribed as [maʊ̯ko] or [mao̯ko] occurs instead of standard [maɫko] ("a little").
• In early French, /l/ vocalized in many positions between a preceding vowel and a following consonant, for example caldus (Vulgar Latin for "warm, hot") became chaud (in Old French with a diphthong similar to /au/, later monophthingized to /o/). Another example: The masculine form of the word "new" in Vulgar Latin was novellus. This was simplified to nouvells in Old French, so that /l/ stood next to a consonant and vocalized to /w/. Later, the end-s disappeared resulting in /nou'vew/, which resembles the current written form nouveau. In the feminine form, /l/ stood between two vowels (novella), so the /l/ did not turn into a /w/ and is hearable until today (Modern French: nouvelle /nu'vel/).
• In early Italian, /l/ vocalized between a preceding consonant and a following vowel to /j/, e.g. Latin flos > Italian fiore, Latin clavis > Italian chiave.
• Spanish had similar changes to those of French, though they were less common, for example Latin alter became autro and later otro, while caldus remained caldo; there were also some less standard shifts, like vultur to buitre.

See also

• Regional accents of English
• Ł

References

• Labov, William, Sharon Ash, and Charles Boberg. 2006. The Atlas of North American English. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-016746-8.

External links

• Transcribing Estuary English, by J. C. Wells - discusses the phonetics of l-vocalization in Estuary English and Cockney.
• L-vocalisations in Estuary English