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

[Paul Johnston]

Neal,
Your /l/ is different from the one I'm describing, but it's in the
same place of articulation.  I perceive mine as oral; the air seems
to be escaping around the uvula, which barely touches the tongue
(less so than for /G/, say), and the sides of the tongue seem down.
The tip is nowhere near the roof of the mouth.  Wells (1982)
describes a true velar [L] as characteristic of Southern American
dialects; mine may be a back velar one.  But it's not a velarized /l/
(which I use more often, actually; remember, I was trainbec not to
use this uvular or back velar /l/).  The sound you're describing is
IPA small-cap /N/, and contrasts with engma in languages like
Greenlandic.

Paul Johnston

On Mar 12, 2009, at 7:23 PM, Neal Whitman wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Neal Whitman <nwhitman at AMERITECH.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Uvular /l/ (Was: velarized /l/ again)
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---------
>
> Clarification: When they talk about "velar /l/" here, they mean
> velarIZED
> (and I think most of them do write 'velarized' instead of 'velar',
> just as
> in the title of the post). As at least one poster has pointed out, a
> velarIZED /l/ is indeed alveolar: The tongue tip touches the
> alveolar ridge,
> but even so, at the same time, the back of the tongue rises
> somewhat as
> well. (Is it higher than it goes for the [i] sound, an issue you've
> brought
> up? I don't know, but I do know it goes up. If you don't do it,
> your /l/s
> sound a little off, like Jerry Reed calling the judge a "hillbilly"
> in "When
> You're Hot, You're Hot, or like Snigdha Prakash when she says
> "dollars.")
>
> However, when I talk about a uvular /l/, I do mean uvular. I know from
> personal experience of making my /l/s this way as a kid that the
> tip of my
> tongue stayed on the floor of my mouth, and the back of my tongue
> touched
> the way back part of my soft palate (i.e. uvula). This sound really
> doesn't
> have anything in common with /l/ at all from an articulatory
> perspective
> (other than being a voiced continuant). The airstream is not
> escaping along
> the sides of the tongue, as it does for alveolar /l/; it's coming
> out the
> nose, as it does for [m, n, N]. The only reason I call it an /l/ is
> that
> people who use it really do use it as their realization of /l/. All
> I can
> guess is that acoustically it must bear a fair resemblance to
> alveolar /l/.
> And to make it, I suggest starting to make the [N] ("ng") sound and
> really
> stretch it out. While you're doing that, slowly slide your tongue
> backwards
> so that the contact point is maybe 5mm further back, and then you'll
> probably be making this sound. And if you want to hear what one
> sounds like,
> listen to Ira Glass on any episode of This American Life; I'm almost
> positive that's how he's making his /l/s.
>
> Neal
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tom Zurinskas" <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 3:46 PM
> Subject: Re: Uvular /l/ (Was: velarized /l/ again)
>
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail
>> header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: Uvular /l/ (Was: velarized /l/ again)
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>> ----------
>>
>> I can make that "l" fricative sound.  Just keep the tongue flat
>> and pinch
>> the cheeks in and get a fricative around the tongue and cheeks
>> when making
>> an "l".
>>
>> I Can't do a velar or uvular "l" if I try.  I would say "l" is not
>> velar
>> of uvular at all, alveolar.
>>
>> I think "l" works like "m".  where for "m" there is a vocal component
>> while the lips are together then releases when the lips part to say a
>> vowel.  Just so the "l" has a vocal (vowelish) component that
>> releases
>> when the tongue flaps down.
>>
>> Most salient "l" is Joe Namath's.  I think he does it with a wide
>> rather
>> than narrow tongue.
>>
>>
>> Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
>
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