Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

dark l

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.80 in modern English

Syllables: dark- l
IPA

10

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A consonantal sound, the velarized alveolar lateral approximant, represented by ⟨ɫ⟩ in the International Phonetic Alphabet.

Example Sentences

"Occasionally one meets with people in the South of England who do not differentiate between clear l's and dark l's to the extent mentioned in the preceding paragraphs."

Inflected Forms

dark ls (plural) dark l's (plural)

Frequently Paired Words

clear l

Questions

What does dark l mean?: A consonantal sound, the velarized alveolar lateral approximant, represented by ⟨ɫ⟩ in the International Phonetic Alphabet.

How to pronounce dark l

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “dark l”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “dark l”.
Repeat and practice — Say “dark l” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.