The Syllabic L: The Angel’s Little Purple Sandals

In today’s lesson I’m going to teach you about the Syllabic L in Australian English pronunciation.

So, what’s the Syllabic L?

When an unstressed syllable in a word ends with an /l/ sound, it combines with the vowel in that syllable to become the Syllabic L with or without lateral release (also known as ‘lateral plosion’).

Lateral release is where the air is allowed to escape around the sides of the tongue whilst it’s still touching the roof of the mouth in order to make the Syllabic L sound. But we’ll cover that later in this lesson.

The IPA symbol for the Syllabic L is:

• Syllabic L without lateral release – /əl/
• Syllabic L with lateral release – /l̩/

Note: it’s usually not shown in IPA transcriptions of words in dictionaries, but we’ll use it here to assist your learning.

Have a listen to the following words and pay attention to the second syllable that’s unstressed in each word.

• Angel – /ˈæɪnˈʤəl/
• Purple – /ˈpɜːˈpəl/

Let me repeat those words again, but this time I’ll say each once twice.

The first time where both syllables of each word are equally stressed, and the second, where the second syllable is unstressed as in normal pronunciation.

• Angel – /ˈæɪnˈʤel/ -> Angel – /ˈæɪnʤəl/
• Purple – /ˈpɜːˈpəl/ -> Purple – /ˈpɜːpəl/

Did you hear the Syllabic L in the second example of each word pair?

The Syllabic L is where the consonant /l/ forms a syllable all of its own, though it’s usually preceded by a quick schwa /ə/ vowel sound.

What do you mean ‘usually’?

Have a listen to the following three words and see if you hear any schwa /ə/ vowel sound before the Syllabic L this time.

For example:

• Little – /ˈlɪ[t]l̩/
• Paddle – /ˈpæ[d]l̩/
• Tunnel – /ˈtɐnl̩/

You didn’t hear any schwa /ə/ vowel sound, did you? That’s because in this case, the Syllabic L occurs with lateral release.

Once again that is where air is suddenly released around the both sides of the tongue whilst it’s still touching the roof of the mouth.

Let’s listen again one more time where I’ll repeat what I did above and pronounce each of those words twice.

First, where both syllables of each word are equally stressed, and then second, where the second syllable is unstressed as in normal pronunciation.

• Little – /ˈlɪˈtəl/ -> Little – /ˈlɪ[t]l̩/
• Paddle – /ˈpæˈdəl/ -> Paddle – /ˈpæ[d]l̩/
• Tunnel – /ˈtɐˈnəl/ -> Tunnel – /ˈtɐnl̩/

You didn’t hear any schwa /ə/ vowel sound in the second word of each pair, did you?

That’s because, again, in this case, the Syllabic L occurs with lateral release.

Ehh… getting into linguistic jargon territory again.

For the linguistic nerds: a lateral release is the release of a plosive consonant into a lateral consonant, i.e. /d/, /t/ or /n/ -> /l/, where the mouth keeps the tongue in the same /d/, /t/ or /n// position but separates the side of the tongue from the teeth in order to let air escape around it, thus creating a laterally-released plosive consonant. It occurs when a syllabic L comes after a /d/, /t/ or /n/ sound.

As we discussed above, there are 2 types of Syllabic L:

Type 1 = /əl/ – Syllabic L without lateral release.

For example:

• Angel – /ˈæɪnʤəl/
• Purple – /ˈpɜːpəl/
• Google – /ˈgʉːgəl/

Type 2 = /l̩/. – Syllabic L with lateral release

For example:

• Little – /ˈlɪ[t]l̩/
• Paddle – /ˈpæ[d]l̩/
• Tunnel – /ˈtɐnl̩/

You should feel the air escaping around the sides of the tongue whilst in the L position, and that’s the lateral release.

Note: these two Syllabic L sounds (/əl/ and /l̩/) can also occur within words:

For example:

• Paddling – /ˈpæ[d]l̩ɪŋ/
• Especially – /ɪsˈpeʃəli/

And they can also appear when grammatical inflections are added after it.

For example:

• Metal – /ˈme[t]l̩/ -> Metals – /ˈme[t]l̩z/
• Paddle – /ˈpæ[d]l̩/ -> Paddled – /ˈpæ[d]l̩d/
• Google – /ˈgʉːgəl/ -> Googling – /ˈgʉːgəlɪŋ/
• Hospital – /ˈhɔspə[t]l̩/ -> Hospital’s – /ˈhɔspə[t]l̩z/

You may also see the Syllabic L used when ‘will’ is contracted to just ‘‘ll’ onto the ends of words, which don’t end with vowels of course.

For example:

• Patrick will – /ˈpætɹɪk wɪl/ -> Patrick’ll – /ˈpætɹɪkəl/
• Pete will – /piːt wɪl/ -> Pete’ll – /ˈpiː[t]l̩/
• Mum will – /mɐm wɪl/ -> Mum’ll – /ˈmɐməl/
• Dad will – /dæd wɪl/ -> Dad’ll – / ˈdæ[d]l̩/

What are the rules?

Type 1 – The first type of Syllabic L occurs after all other consonants except /t/, /d/ and /n/, and is followed by a schwa /ə/ vowel sound before the /l/ sound.

For example:

• Angel – /ˈæɪnʤəl/
• Purple – /ˈpɜːpəl/
• Google – /ˈgʉːgəl/

For the linguistic nerds: this /ə/ sound is only made here because the mouth has to change into the /l/ position from whichever consonant position it was in previously, and whilst doing so, a little bit of air escapes the mouth making the schwa /ə/ sound before the syllabic N.

Type 2 – The second type of syllabic L occurs with lateral release and happens when the Syllabic L comes after a /t/, /d/ or /n/ consonant sound.

For example:

• Little – /ˈlɪ[t]l̩/
• Paddle – /ˈpæ[d]l̩/
• Tunnel – /ˈtɐnl̩/

For the linguistic nerds: This is where the tongue is already in a /d/, /t/ or /n/ position (remember this is the same position as the /l/ position in the mouth, but that the /l/ position separates the tongue from the teeth at the sides to let air flow around it) and the vowel sound is just an /l/ sound where air escapes around the sides of the tongue.

Note: you may have noticed that these words could possibly be pronounced with a dark L at the ends of them, assuming they’re not followed by a vowel sound. You’re 100% correct. Either is fine. However, one thing to note is that the Dark L will turn any T or D before it into a t-flap (which is not present if the syllabic L is used).

How’s the sounds made?

If you need to review the pronunciation of the consonant sound /l/, you can do so in the consonant pronunciation tutorial section of this course.

Type 1 – The mouth finishes articulating whichever consonant sound is being made, e.g. /g/, /v/, /p/ etc. (except /h/), and then follows it with a short schwa /ə/ vowel sound before the /l/ sound.

For example:

• Angel – /ˈæɪnʤəl/
• Purple – /ˈpɜːpəl/
• Google – /ˈgʉːgəl/

Type 2 – As your tongue goes into the /d/, /t/ or /n/position, instead of releasing those consonant sounds, saying the vowel sound and then ending with the /l/ sound, the tip of the tongue stays in position and releases the sides of the tongue away from the teeth and allows air to pass around it as it changes to an /l/ sound to represent the syllable.

For example:

• Little – /ˈlɪ[t]l̩/
• Paddle – /ˈpæ[d]l̩/
• Tunnel – /ˈtɐnl̩/

Let’s go through some exercises!

In the following exercise, I’m going to say 20 words with the Syllabic L in them. Some words will have lateral release and some won’t.

Listen and repeat these words out loud after me. Repeat the exercise a second time and write the corresponding IPA symbol for two types of Syllabic L’s (/l̩/ or /əl/) next to each word. Let’s go!

Exercise 1.1: Syllabic L with or without lateral release

1. Gentle
2. Staple
3. Table
4. Tunnel
5. Rattle
6. Bagel
7. Rifling
8. Recycling
9. Capital
10. Devil
11. Crystal
12. Medal
13. Universally
14. Initial
15. Lethally
16. Handle
17. Beige’ll
18. Betrothal
19. Noodle
20. Casual

Answers – Exercise 1.1: Syllabic L with or without lateral release

1. Gentle – /l̩/ – /ˈʤen[t]l̩/
2. Staple – /əl/ – /ˈstæɪpəl/
3. Table – /əl/ – /ˈtæɪbəl/
4. Tunnel – /l̩/ – /ˈtɐnl̩/
5. Rattle – /l̩/ – /ˈɹæ[t]l/
6. Bagel – /əl/ – /ˈbæɪgəl/
7. Rifling – /əl/ – /ˈɹɑeflɪŋ/
8. Recycling – /əl/ – /ˌɹiːˈsɑeklɪŋ/
9. Capital – /l̩/ – /ˈkæpɪ[t]l̩/
10. Devil – /əl/ – /ˈdevəl/
11. Crystal – /l̩/ – /ˈkɹɪs[t]l̩/
12. Medal – /l̩/ – /ˈme[t]l̩/
13. Universally – /əl/ – /ˌjʉːnəˈvɜːsəli/
14. Initial – /əl/ – /ɪˈnɪʃəl/
15. Lethally – /əl/ – /ˈliːθəli/
16. Handle – /l̩/ – /ˈhæn[d]l̩/
17. Beige’ll – /əl/ – /bæɪʒel/
18. Betrothal – /əl/ – /bɪˈʧɹəʉðəl/
19. Noodle – /l̩/ – /ˈnʉː[d]l̩/
20. Casual – /əl/ – /ˈkæʒʉəl/