velarized /l/ and Billie Holiday

Arnold Zwicky zwicky at STANFORD.EDU
Fri Mar 6 17:47:36 UTC 2009


On Mar 6, 2009, at 9:33 AM, Tom Zurinskas wrote:

>
> For an "l" I've got the tongue hitting the upper gums not the velar
> region.  I can't conceive of "l" being called velar.

from wikipedia:

Velarization is a secondary articulation of consonants by which the
back of the tongue is raised toward the velum during the articulation
of the consonant. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velarization

[the *primary* articulation of english l is indeed alveolar (or
dental).  but a number of secondary articulations, including
velarization, can be superimposed on this.]

arnold

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