Alveolar lateral approximant

The alveolar lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar lateral approximants is l, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is l.

Features of the alveolar lateral approximant:

Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by bringing one articulator close to another but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced.
Its place of articulation is alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue — termed respectively apical and laminal — against the alveolar ridge.
Its phonation type is voiced, which means the vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation.
It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth.
It is a lateral consonant, which means it is produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the sides of the tongue, rather than the middle of the tongue.
The airstream mechanism is pulmonic egressive, which means it is articulated by pushing air out of the lungs and through the vocal tract, rather than from the glottis or the mouth.

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Abkhaz		мгьал	[mgʲal]	'bread'
Arabic		صلاة	[sˤɑˈlæːh]	'prayer/salat'
Chechen		лам /lam	[laːm]	'mountain'
Dutch		leven	[leːvə(n)]	'to live'	See Dutch phonology
English		let	[lɛt]	'let'	See English phonology
Finnish		illalla	[ilːɑlːɑ]	'at evening'	See Finnish phonology
French		lune	[lyn]	'moon'	See French phonology
German		Liebe	[liːbə]	'love'	See German phonology
Greek		καλόγερος	[]	'monk'	See Modern Greek phonology
Hungarian		elem	[ɛlɛm]	'battery'	See Hungarian phonology
Italian		letto	[ˈlɛtto]	'bed'	See Italian phonology
Mandarin		老/lǎo	[lao214]	'old'	See Standard Mandarin
Ngwe	Njoagwi dialect	[lɛ̀rɛ́]		'eye'
Norwegian		liv	[liːv]	'life'	See Norwegian phonology
Pashto		ﻟﺲ	[ləs]	'ten'
Polish		lot	[lɔt]	'flight'	See Polish phonology
Portuguese		lua	['luɐ]	'moon'	See Portuguese phonology
Romanian		alună	[aˈlu.nə]	'hazelnut'	See Romanian phonology
Spanish		hablar	[aβˈlaɾ]	'to speak'	See Spanish phonology
Swedish		allt	[alt]	'everything'	See Swedish phonology

Consonants (List, table)

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