Retroflex lateral approximant

Retroflex lateral approximant
ɭ
Image
IPA number	156
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	ɭ
Unicode (hex)	U+026D
X-SAMPA	l`
Kirshenbaum	l.
Sound
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The retroflex lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɭ ⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is l`.

[edit] Features

Features of the retroflex lateral approximant:

Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulent airstream.
Its place of articulation is retroflex, which prototypically means it is articulated sub-apical - with the tip of the tongue curled up. But more generally it means that it is postalveolar without being palatalized. That is, besides the prototypical sub-apical articulation, the tongue contact can be apical (pointed) or laminal (flat).
Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
It is a lateral consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream over the sides of the tongue, rather than down the middle.
The airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

In the following transcriptions, diacritics may be used to distinguish between apical [ɭ̺] and laminal [ɭ̻].

Language	Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Enindhilyagwa	marluwiya	[maɭuwija]	'emu'
Kannada	ಎಳ್ಳು	[ˈeɭɭu]	'sesame'	Represented by a <ಳ>.
Malayalam	മലയാളി	[mɐl̪əjɐ̞ːɭ̺̠ɪ] (help·info)	'Malayalam people'	Represented by a <ള>. Apical and retracted (apico-palatal).
Marathi	कुळ	[kuɭa]	'clan'	Represented by a <ळ>. See Marathi phonology
Norwegian	farlig	[fɑːɭi]	'dangerous'	Eastern and central dialects. See Norwegian phonology.
Punjabi	ਤ੍ਰੇਲ਼	[t̪reɪɭ]	'dew'	Represented by a <ਲ਼>. Mostly found in rural dialects.
Swedish	sorl	[soːɭ] (help·info)	'murmur' (noun)	See Swedish phonology.
Tamil^[1]	புளி	[puɭi]	'tamarind'	Represented by a <ள்>. See Tamil phonology.
Telugu	నీళ్ళు	[niːɭːu]	'water'	Represented by a <ళ>.

Keane, Elinor (2004), "Tamil", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (1): 111–116