American English interdental /l/

[Alice Faber]

Mark Jones said:
>Dear List Members,
>
>As a native speaker of British English, I have the impression that an
>interdental lateral /l/ is a possible realisation in American English,
>perhaps associated with young West Coast females. I would appreciate
>hearing from anyone who has any insights and observations, or
>published data, on how common this realisation of /l/ is and whether
>my impressions are correct. I will post a summary of any responses in
>due course.
>
>This request for information has also been posted on LinguistList. I
>apologise to those of you who have received it from both sources.

Here's a New York anecdote for you.

One of the sports anchors on a radio station I listen to is named
"Bob Galercole". Until I saw his name written down, I thought it was
"Gathercole".

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Alice Faber                                             faber at haskins.yale.edu
Haskins Laboratories                                  tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
New Haven, CT 06511 USA                                     fax (203) 865-8963