Liquids, /l/ and /r/

Liquids are sounds that are produced by air in the mouth moving continuously and smoothly, like water flowing in a river. Air can move like fluid in the mouth because of the movement of the tongue. That is, the tongue keeps moving to its final position while producing the sound. The liquid sounds in English are /l/ and /r/. The unique sound of each liquid is affected by the position of the tongue and the way in which the exhaling air is directed around it. /l/ is called lateral because the air comes out around the sides of the tongue when the sound is pronounced. /r/ is called retroflexive since the tongue moves backward and is bent when pronouncing the sound. Many Asian language speakers have difficulty in distinguishing /l/ from /r/. The reason has to do with the fact that these languages have a sound, similar to the flap-T, that substitutes for both /l/ and /r/. So, we learn the pronunciation details of the liquid sounds. 

Liquids, /l/ and /r/

Since liquids are pronounced by the continuous movement of the tongue, the sounds can be stretched out, "ulll" and "urrr", carrying a vowel sound by themselves. So liquids, like nasals, can be syllabic consonants. That is, in some situations, liquids can carry their own vowel sounds, being pronounced as /əl/ and /ər/, as in “apple” and ‘father.’ To say these words, we do not need an extra vowel phoneme in front of /l/ and /r/. The syllabic /əl/ is better known as the dark L, and the syllabic /ər/, the vocalic R. 

Lateral liquid /l/

Like nasals, liquids can be used as plain consonants or syllabic consonants. So there are two different sounds of /l/, that is, two allophones of /l/: the consonant /l/, which is sometimes called the light L, and the syllabic /l/, which is often called the dark L. When ‘L’ comes at the beginning of a word or before a vowel in a syllable, it is pronounced as the light L, and when ‘L’ comes at the end of a word or after a vowel in a syllable or before a consonant, it is usually pronounced as a dark L. 

Light L 

To pronounce the light L, that is, the consonant /l/ sound, the tip of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge and the sides of the tongue are dropped down so that the air can flow around the sides of the tongue. Sounds which involve airflow around the side of the tongue are called laterals. /l/ is the only lateral in English. The opening left at the side of the tongue is wide enough that the air flowing through does not become turbulent. 

Light L words

These are words with light l:

leaf, lamp, laugh, leak, list, long, letter, light, land, lock, look, love, lemon, lamb, legs, lips, belly, sailing, balloon, alarm, police, salad, pillow, wallet, eleven, calendar, family, pilot, island, shoelace, elephant, violin, toilet, envelope. 

L Blend words

When ‘L’ is blended with other consonants, it is also pronounced as a consonant sound. These are the consonant blends with L: BL blends, CL blends, GL blends, FL blends, PL blends, and SL blends.

BL blends: 

blanket, blackberry, blank, blew, blocks, blue, blink, black 

CL blends: 

clap, clock, cloud, clam, close, claw, clothes, club 

GL blends: 

glass, glad, globe, glitter, gloss, glow, glove, glue 

FL blends: 

floor, flower, floss, fly, flat, Florida, float, flute 

PL blends: 

plane, planet, please, place, play, plant, plus, plow 

SL blends: 

slide, slap, sleep, slip, slam, sleeve, sled, slow, slug 

Light L sentences

These are sentences with the light /l/ words.

I like to learn languages.

Lisa loves Larry the elephant a lot.

Please clean the lemon juice on the floor.

The little lady lost her wallet on the plane.

The lazy pilot flies the airplane.