Consonant Sound Dark L as in "call" – American English Pronunciation

The "dark" L is only a variation of the /l/ sound and not a distinct consonant. Thus, if you only pronounce the "regular" L, you'll still sound pretty much like an American. Watch this video in case "pretty much" is not good enough for you.

Quick Links:
0:00 Dark L in American English
0:45 "Dark" L vs "regular" L
02:03 How to pronounce the "dark" L
05:23 Typical mistake (the "soft" L)
• "Dark" L vs "regular" L: 0:45
• How to pronounce the "dark" L: 02:03
• Typical mistake (the "soft" L): 05:23
• Pronunciation exercise 1: 06:43
• Pronunciation exercise 2: 08:28
• Pronunciation exercise 3: 09:52
• Vowel sounds before the /l/: 11:59
Related Videos:
#AmericanPronunciation #ConsonantSounds #LiquidSounds
► Consonant Sound /l/ as in "let"
https://youtu.be/JamM8TgB_AA
► Consonant Sound /r/ as in "run"
https://youtu.be/q5a2-KuHkBU

[THIS VIDEO HAS ENGLISH, VIETNAMESE, PORTUGUESE, AND RUSSIAN SUBTITLES]
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TRANSCRIPT
Hello there! This is the "Sounds American" channel.
In this video, we're going to talk about the "dark" L, as in the word "call."
You can also hear this sound in words like "tool," "gold," "full" or "fault."
We'll be using a special phonetic symbol - /ɫ/ - for this sound.
Let's get back to our examples
Now, listen to these words pronounced with the "regular" L and compare. Can you hear any difference?
Let's do it again!
Can you hear any difference now? We can't either. And this is TOTALLY fine.
The "dark" and the "regular" 'L' sound almost the same. The "dark" L is only a variation of the /l/ sound and not a distinct consonant. And to be honest, that's all that most people need to know about the "dark" L. But if you don't have more important things to do, keep watching.
And you know what? We actually won't be using the dark /ɫ/ symbol. It's never used in dictionaries and we like to keep things simple.
Before we get into the "dark" L discussion, let's recall how to make the regular /l/ sound.
Here you go:
The /l/ is pronounced with the tip of your tongue touching the alveolar ridge behind your upper front teeth. The back of your tongue is lowered. The /l/ is made with air passing through the mouth around the sides of the tongue like a liquid: /l/.
By the way, this is why it's called a "liquid" consonant.

OK. Now let's try to pronounce the /l/ in a slightly different way.
This time keep the tip of your tongue a little lower so that it doesn't touch the alveolar ridge. The back of your tongue, on the contrary, should be a little higher.
Let's try saying it: /ɫ/, /ɫ/, /ɫ/. Have you got it?
Congratulations, you've just nailed the "dark" L sound!

Hold on, we're not done yet.
Here's the tricky part: there's no strict distinction between the "regular" and the "dark" 'L' in American English.
Instead, there are many degrees of darkness. And we do love how this sounds :).

The darkness of the 'L' depends on its position in a word and is adjusted by the tip and the back of your tongue.
The lower the tip of your tongue, the darker the 'L' you get.

Now, the question is: when should you and shouldn't you make your 'L' dark?
This is actually pretty simple: always check the sound before the 'L'.
• If it's one of the back vowel sounds, like in the words "tool," "full," "gold," and "fault," pronounce the darkest /l/ possible. The thing is, when you make the back vowel, your tongue is already pulled back, so it's easier to make the "dark" 'L': "tool," "full," "gold," "fault."
• If it's one of the central or front vowels, like in the words "deal," "mail," "tell," or "final" pronounce the /l/ that's slightly darker than the regular one. It's okay to gently touch your alveolar ridge: "deal," "mail," "tell," "final."
• Now, what happens when there's a consonant before the 'L', or the 'L' is at the beginning of a word or a syllable? Correct, in that case, pronounce your regular L sound: "play," "clean," "light," or "look."

At this point, you may wonder what's going on in the red area.
This is to show you one of the most typical mistakes that people make when pronouncing the /l/ sound.
There is the /ɭ/ sound, also known as the "Soft 'L'", which exists in several languages but doesn't exist in American English.
The "Soft 'L'" is pronounced with the tip of your tongue curled back to your palate, and this is NOT how you make any of the American 'L' sounds!
Remember, if you pronounce the soft 'L' instead of the /l/ sound, it'll seriously affect your American accent.
[Pronunciation exercise 1]
• bold
• all
• sold
• gold
• fold
• bowl
• pull
• vault
• told
• goal
• bull
• salt
• ball
• cool
• pool
[Pronunciation exercise 2]
• salad
• health
• adult
• bill
• color
• fail
• college
• gallon
• email
• cereal
• feel
• bulb
• build
• belt
• deal
[Pronunciation exercise 3]
• place
• leaf
• look
• lady
• black
• old
• wall
• police
• flat
• golf
• golden
• else
• small
• tall
• role
• model
• class
• hall
• crawl
• wolf

Видео Consonant Sound Dark L as in "call" – American English Pronunciation канала Sounds American