✨Creating an account only takes 20 seconds, and doesn’t require any personal info.
If you’ve got one already, please log in.🤝
Syllabic /l/
Syllabic /l/ is a syllabic consonant consisting of a dark l sound.
The IPA phonetic symbol [l̩][1] (lower case “L" with a small vertical line below) represents syllabic /l/, a syllable with no vowel (syllabic consonant), as in "people" [ˈpiːpl̩], "level" [ˈlevl̩] or “difficult" [ˈdɪfɪkl̩t]. In a broad notation [l̩] is /əl/: /ˈpiːpəl, ˈlevəl, ˈdɪfɪkəlt/. Some dictionaries write a superscript schwa letter as in /ˈpiːpəl, ˈlevəl, ˈdɪfɪkəlt/. Others write no vowel, and the reader has to deduce that /l/ is in a syllable with no vowels: /ˈpiːpl, ˈlevl/.[2]
Not all instances of /əl/ are pronounced [l̩]. For example, “several" is pronunced [ˈsevrəl].[3] In Teflpedia we are not concerned with details like this, and therefore we always use a broad notation: /əl/.
Common words[edit | edit source]
- with "l": animal - financial - level - local - model - national [ˈnæʃ.ə.nl̩, ˈnæʃ.n̩.l̩, ˈnæʃ.nəl] - political - social - special - total - travel
- with silent e: able - available - example - people - possible - table
[l̩] vs [əl][edit | edit source]
Below we can see the pronunciation of /əl/ depending on the previous consonant according to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (OALD),[4] Collins Dictionary for British English (CD-BE),[5] and Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary (MWLD) for American English.[6] Note that OALD uses [l] instead of [ḷ] or [əl].
| Consonant | Example | OALD | CD-BE | MWLD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /t/ | little | [ˈlɪtl] | [ˈlɪtəl] | [ˈlɪtl̟] |
| /d/ | middle | [ˈmɪdl] | [ˈmɪdəl] | [ˈmɪdl̟] |
| /n/ | final | [ˈfaɪnl] | [ˈfaɪnəl] | [ˈfaɪnl̟] |
| /p/ | people | [ˈpiːpl] | [ˈpiːpəl] | [ˈpiːpəl] |
| /b/ | bubble | [ˈbʌbl] | [ˈbʌbəl] | [ˈbʌbəl] |
| /g/ | legal | [ˈliːɡl] | [ˈliːɡəl] | [ˈliːgəl] |
| /v/ | travel | [ˈtrævl] | [ˈtrævəl] | [ˈtrævəl] |
| /s/ | pencil | [ˈpensl] | [ˈpɛnsəl] | [ˈpɛnsəl] |
| /z/ | nasal | [ˈneɪzl] | [ˈneɪzəl] | [ˈneɪzəl] |
| /m/ | animal, normal | [ˈænɪml], [ˈnɔːml, ˈnɔːrml] | [ˈænɪməl], [ˈnɔːməl] | [ˈænəməl], [ˈnoɚməl] |
| /k/ | cycle, difficult | [ˈsaɪkl], [ˈdɪfɪkəlt ] | [ˈsaɪkəl], [ˈdɪfɪkəlt] | [ˈsaɪkəl], [ˈdɪfɪkəlt] |
| /f/ | rifle, beautiful | [ˈraɪfl], [ˈbjuːtɪfl] | [ˈraɪfəl], [ˈbjuːtɪfʊl] | [ˈraɪfəl], [ˈbjuːtɪfəl] |
| /θ/ | lethal | [ˈliːθl] | [ˈliːθəl] | [ˈliːθəl] |
| /ʃ/ | social | [ˈsəʊʃl, ˈsoʊʃl] | [ˈsəʊʃəl] | [ˈsoʊʃəl] |
| /dʒ/ | angel | [ˈeɪndʒl] | [ˈeɪndʒəl] | [ˈeɪnʤəl] |
| /tʃ | satchel | [ˈsætʃəl] | [ˈsætʃəl] | [ˈsætʃəl] |
| /r/ | moral | [ˈmɒrəl, ˈmɔːrəl, ˈmɑːrəl] | [ˈmɒrəl] | [ˈmorəl] |
| /j/ | filial | [ˈfɪliːəl, ˈfɪlɪəl] | [ˈfɪljəl] | [ˈfɪlijəl] |
| /w/ | equal | [ˈiːkwəl] | [ˈiːkwəl] | [ˈiːkwəl] |
Unicode and HTML[edit | edit source]
Unicode: U+0329 Combining vertical line below
HTML:
- Hexadecimal: l̩
- Decimal: l̩
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ For technical reasons double brackets appear on the page title.
- ↑ Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionaries, people (noun): ˈpiːpl.
- ↑ Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, several (determiner): ˈsevrəl.
- ↑ Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries
- ↑ Collins English Dictionary
- ↑ Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary
