The "L" pronounciation..?

Question

Just wondering, when you pronounce "walking", do you touch the roof of your mouth for the "L" in "waLking"? So you touch ur roof only once when pronoucing "walking"?

In addition, do you basically touch the roof all the time when there is a "L" in any part of a word in a sentence? Such as "singLe", "exampLe", peopLe". So when you pronounce "peopLe", the last sound u make is a L sound touching the roof?

In addition, what about "littLe", how many times do u touch the roof of the mouth when u pronounce this word? Because "TL" are together, so is it considered as a "merge"(once) or twice?
What about "cell", the double "L"?
And "single person", you touch the roof when say it fast too right?

Thank you very much if you can clarify.
By the way, what's the best source to clarify how the tongue and mouth move when learning English pronounciation? Thanks.

Answer 1

I say the L is kinda silent in walking. I guess I say Waaa King... my tongue doesn't touch the roof. but words like you said that end in LE, i always pronounce the L.

Answer 2

Just wondering, when you pronounce "walking", do you touch the roof of your mouth for the "L" in "waLking"? So you touch ur roof only once when pronoucing "walking"?

L IS NOT PRONOUNCED IN THAT WORD. IT IS JUST SPELLED THAT WAY.

In addition, do you basically touch the roof all the time when there is a "L" in any part of a word in a sentence? Such as "singLe", "exampLe", peopLe". So when you pronounce "peopLe", the last sound u make is a L sound touching the roof?

YES, IN THOSE WORDS. "L" AT END OF THE WORD (IN NATIVE SPEAKERS) IS DIFF. THAN L AT BEGINNING OF WORD, IN WHICH THE TIP OF TONGUE IS AT THE TEETH.

In addition, what about "littLe", how many times do u touch the roof of the mouth when u pronounce this word? Because "TL" are together, so is it considered as a "merge"(once) or twice?
L AT THE BEGINNING IS "CLEAR L", AT THE TEETH. LAST L IS AT ROOF. BETWEEN T AND L YOU PRONOUNCE SHORT "SCHWA" (UH) VOWEL.

What about "cell", the double "L"?
PRONOUNCED LIKE A SINGLE L
And "single person", you touch the roof when say it fast too right? YES

Edit:
F.Y.I., Be careful about the way some of the people above are telling you to pronounce "walk". They are telling you Canadian and Western U.S. dialects. "walk" does not rhyme with "wok", "stalk" does not rhyme with "stock", "talk" does not rhyme with "tock" in Standard English.

Answer 3

walking: The tongue does not actually touch the roof of the mouth when saying this word. The tongue does touch when speaking the other words you mentioned. In the word "little", the tongue actually touches the roof of the mouth three times. A double LL is pronounced the same as a single L. The best source to learn these things is somebody you know who is a native speaker.

Answer 4

The "L" in "walking" is silent. Just pretend it's not there..:-))
The same happens with "talking"..

In words like "single", "people" the "L" is pronounced without touching the roof of the mouth.

In "little" you touch the roof of the mouth twice . when pronouncing the first "L" and when pronouncing the "T".

Usually, when the "L" is at the end of a word, as in "cell", "peel", etc, the tongue hardly touches the roof of the mouth.

"L" in the middle of a word, is usually pronounced touching the roof of the mouth with the tongue.

Answer 5

Depends on what you mean by "roof". Immediately behind the upper front teeth is a ridge, the alveolum. It is touched by the tongue to pronounce the L. But most of the roof is sort of a large dome, the palatum, it is not to be touched to pronounce the L. In "walking", the L is not pronounced at all. In "cell" only one L is pronounced.

Answer 6

As a native speaker of the English language, I can tell you I do not always touch my tongue to the roof of my mouth when pronouncing the 'l' phoneme. Many people pronounce 'walking' as 'waw-king',and some pronounce it as 'wall-king' and touch their tongue to the roof of their mouths .

Most people touch the roof of their mouths when they say 'single', 'example', and 'people'. When saying the phrase 'single person' fast, most people do not touch the roof of their mouths.

The word 'little' is usually pronounced 'lit-ul' or 'lid-ul' or 'lit-tul', where the 'u' is pronounced with the same intonation that the word 'uh' has .

The word 'cell' is pronounced as if there is one 'l' in the word.
I would ask a linguist, if you know any, or consult a linguistics textbook (as I am not a linguist, I know next to nothing about linguistics. I am a neuroscientist, so I can inform you about how you form language in your brain) .

Answer 7

you touch or do not touch the roof of your mouth, it all depends on your dialect. Our language is the same but people pronounce words differently and it can still be proper. Like for example we say words different than they do in Europe.

Another thing, I slightly touch the roof of my mouth, I like to articulate my words, and it is only done once when saying the word walking. Anymore times than one and you hava a speech impediment

Answer 8

You touch mainly the back of the upper front teeth with the tip of your tongue. Never the roof!! That's the typical "Indian" pronunciation. BTW, in waLking the L is NOT pronounced in any way.

Have fun!

Answer 9

when you wante to prounouce the word walking you dont actually touch ur roof of your mouth. You just bring your tongue to middle of ypur mouth that would sound like waok.

Answer 10

You do not pronounce the 'l' at all in 'walking'.

Your second paragraph is absolutely correct.

Hard to describe 'little' over the internet. the English /t/ has at least 6 different pronunciations (called allophones), and /t/ before /l/ is completely different from , say, initial /t/. There's a description at

http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/p201-2-lecture.PDF

Double 'l' is treated as single 'l'.

The best way to perfect pronunciation is to know a patient and linguistically-minded native speaker, who can demonstrate and explain the movements.