Velarized Alveolar Lateral Approximant

The velarized alveolar lateral approximant, also known as dark l, is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The regular symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨lˠ⟩, though the dedicated letter ⟨ɫ⟩ is perhaps more common.

Depending on language and dialect, this sound may instead be pharyngealized. Velarization and pharyngealization are generally associated with more dental articulations of coronal consonants so that dark l tends to be dental or denti-alveolar while clear l tends to be retracted to an alveolar position.