Uvular /l/ (Was: velarized /l/ again)

[Paul A Johnston, Jr.]

As a kid, I had this in onset position--it was one of the features I went to speech therapy (in IL) for.  I don't know how widespread it is in NY/NJ/E PA, but I get the feeling I wasn't alone.  In a word like "play", it was some kind of lateral fricative, too.  I still sporadically come out with one.

Paul Johnston

----- Original Message -----
From: Neal Whitman <nwhitman at AMERITECH.NET>
Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 11:46 pm
Subject: Uvular /l/ (Was: velarized /l/ again)

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Neal Whitman <nwhitman at AMERITECH.NET>
> Subject:      Uvular /l/ (Was: velarized /l/ again)
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> Some people use a different gesture involving the back of their
> tongue to
> make an /l/: a uvular nasal consonant. (It's represented as [N] in
> IPA,which unfortunately is ambiguous here, since [N] is also SAMPA
> for the velar
> nasal.) I wrote about in a couple of short posts:
> http://literalminded.wordpress.com/2006/05/21/totally-uvular/
> http://literalminded.wordpress.com/2007/01/10/lsa-2007-l-and-s-at-the/
>
> Neal Whitman
> Email: nwhitman at ameritech.net
> Blog: http://literalminded.wordpress.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Herb Stahlke" <hfwstahlke at GMAIL.COM>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 10:31 PM
> Subject: velarized /l/ again
>
>
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Herb Stahlke <hfwstahlke at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      velarized /l/ again
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------
> --------------
> >
> > Wilson mentioned in the previous thread that /l/ tends not to be
> > velarized in AAE, at least certainly not as much in other AmE
> > varieties.  I've noticed this week the word "colleague"
> pronounced on
> > TV by two African Americans, one I think an Olympic track
> athlete in a
> > cell phone ad and the other Ice T on Law and Order SVU.  Both
> > pronounced the /l/ without velarization and clearly the onset of the
> > second syllable.  In my speech the /l/ is ambisyllabic, begins
> > velarized and ends unvelarized.
> >
> > Herb
> >
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