The Sound l In American English
The Sound of the Letter l
The letter "l" makes the sound /l/ in English. This pronunciation drill focuses on this sound and practices it across several syllable structures to build accuracy in different phonetic positions. The drill includes the following patterns:
Vowel + Consonant (VC)
Consonant + Vowel (CV)
Vowel + Consonant + Consonant (VCC)
Vowel + Three-Consonant Cluster (VCCC)
The present lesson will focus on the simpler VC and CV patterns as well as some of the easier VCC combinations where /l/ is followed by another consonant. The more complex VCC patterns as well as the VCCC combinations are dealt with in a separate lesson.
Step 1: Vowel + Consonant
Repeat each word aloud at least 3 times.
i + l → /il/
eel, feel, meal
Short i + l → /ɪl/
ill, fill, pill
Short e + l → /ɛl/
bell, sell, tell
æ + l → /æl/
pal, gal, shall
a + l → /ɑl/
doll, hall, ball
Short a + l → /ʌl/
hull, gull, dull
Short u + l → /ʊl/
pull, bull, full
u + l → /ul/
cool, pool, tool
eɪ + l → /eɪl/
hail, pale, sail
aɪ + l → /aɪl/
pile, tile, mile
aʊ + l → /aʊl/
owl, howl, foul
ɔɪ + l → /ɔɪl/
oil, boil, coil
Long o + l → /oʊl/
hole, pole, sole
Step 2: Consonant + Vowel
Repeat each word aloud at least 3 times.
l + i → /li/
lead, leak, leave
l + Short i → /lɪ/
lid, lick, limp
l + Short e → /lɛ/
let, less, left
l + æ → /læ/
lap, lack, lamp
l + a → /lɑ/
law, lock, loss
l + Short a → /lʌ/
luck, love, lump
l + Short u → /lʊ/
look, lure
l + u → /lu/
loop, loom, loose
l + eɪ → /leɪ/
late, lame, lake
l + aɪ → /laɪ/
lie, lime, line
l + aʊ → /laʊ/
loud, louse, lout
l + Long o → /loʊ/
load, lobe, lone
l + ɔɪ → /lɔɪ/
loiter, loyal
Step 3: Vowel + Consonant + Consonant
Repeat each word aloud at least 3 times. Notice the transition between consonants.
i + l + d → /ild/
field, sealed, healed
Short i + l + d → /ɪld/
guild, build, silled
Short e + l + d → /ɛld/
held, meld, weld
a + l + d → /ɑld/
called, stalled, scald
Short a + l + d → /ʌld/
gulled, culled, lulled
u + l + d → /uld/
cooled, fooled, ruled
eɪ + l + d → /eɪld/
paled, sailed, hailed
aɪ + l + d → /aɪld/
wild, child, mild
aʊ + l + d → /aʊld/
fouled, howled, growled
Long o + l + d → /oʊld/
old, bold, cold
ɔɪ + l + d → /ɔɪld/
oiled, coiled, foiled
i + l + z → /ilz/
feels, wheels, reels
Short i + l + z → /ɪlz/
kills, pills, bills
Short e + l + z → /ɛlz/
bells, sells, tells
æ + l + z → /ælz/
pals, gals
a + l + z → /ɑlz/
dolls, halls, balls
Short a + l + z → /ʌlz/
gulls, dulls
Short u + l + z → /ʊlz/
bulls, pulls
u + l + z → /ulz/
pools, tools, schools
eɪ + l + z → /eɪlz/
pails, tails, sails
aɪ + l + z → /aɪlz/
piles, files, tiles
aʊ + l + z → /aʊlz/
owls, howls, growls
Long o + l + z → /oʊlz/
poles, rolls, souls
ɔɪ + l + z → /ɔɪlz/
oils, boils, coils
Sentence Drills
Lily left a little lamp on the table.
The lion licked the long leaf.
Laura lifted the large luggage.
The tall ladder leaned against the wall.
The apple fell into the clear water.
The children played in the leafy valley.
The lonely owl called from the tall pine.
The lamp lit the little room.
The cyclist followed the long line of lights.
The student looked closely at the black letters.
Comments
(0)- The Sound of the Letter l
- i + l + d → /ild/
- Short i + l + d → /ɪld/
- Short e + l + d → /ɛld/
- a + l + d → /ɑld/
- Short a + l + d → /ʌld/
- u + l + d → /uld/
- eɪ + l + d → /eɪld/
- aɪ + l + d → /aɪld/
- aʊ + l + d → /aʊld/
- Long o + l + d → /oʊld/
- ɔɪ + l + d → /ɔɪld/
- i + l + z → /ilz/
- Short i + l + z → /ɪlz/
- Short e + l + z → /ɛlz/
- æ + l + z → /ælz/
- a + l + z → /ɑlz/
- Short a + l + z → /ʌlz/
- Short u + l + z → /ʊlz/
- u + l + z → /ulz/
- eɪ + l + z → /eɪlz/
- aɪ + l + z → /aɪlz/
- aʊ + l + z → /aʊlz/
- Long o + l + z → /oʊlz/
- ɔɪ + l + z → /ɔɪlz/
- Sentence Drills
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