# Voiced retroflex lateral approximant

The voiced retroflex lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɭ ⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is l`.
The retroflex lateral approximant contrasts phonemically with its voiceless counterpart /ɭ̊ / in Iaai and Toda. In both of these languages it also contrasts with more anterior /l̥, l/, which are dental in Iaai and alveolar in Toda.

## Features

Features of the voiced retroflex lateral approximant:
* Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulent airstream.
* Its place of articulation is retroflex, which prototypically means it is articulated subapical (with the tip of the tongue curled up), but more generally, it means that it is postalveolar without being palatalized. That is, besides the prototypical subapical articulation, the tongue can be apical (pointed) or, in some fricatives, laminal (flat).
* Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
* It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
* It is a lateral consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream over the sides of the tongue, rather than down the middle.
* Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

## Occurrence

In the following transcriptions, diacritics may be used to distinguish between apical [ɭ̺] and laminal [ɭ̻].
| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Bashkir | Bashkir | ел | | 'wind' | Apical retroflex lateral; occurs in front vowel contexts. |
| Dhivehi | Dhivehi | ފަޅޯ / falhoa | [faɭoː] | 'papaya' | Represented by the Thaana letter ޅ (lhaviyani). |
| Enindhilyagwa | Enindhilyagwa | marluwiya | [maɭuwija] | 'emu' | |
| Faroese | Faroese | árla | [ɔɻɭa] | 'early' | Allophone of /l/ after /ɹ/. See Faroese phonology |
| French | Standard | belle jambe | [bɛɭ ʒɑ̃b] | 'beautiful leg' | Allophone of /l/ before /f/ and /ʒ/ for some speakers. See French phonology |
| Gujarati | Gujarati | નળ | [nəɭə] | 'tap' | Represented by a ⟨ળ⟩. Pronounced as /ɭə/. |
| Kannada | Kannada | ಎಳ್ಳು | [ˈeɭːu] | 'sesame' | Represented by a ⟨ಳ⟩ |
| Katukina-Kanamari | Katukina-Kanamari | | [ɭuːˈbɯ] | 'to go' | |
| Khanty | Eastern dialects | пуӆ | [puɭ] | 'bit' | |
| Khanty | Some northern dialects | пуӆ | [puɭ] | 'bit' | |
| Korean | Korean | 솔 / sol | [soɭ] | 'pine' | Represented by a ⟨ㄹ⟩. May also be pronounced as /l/. |
| Malayalam | Malayalam script | മലയാളം | | 'Malayalam' | Represented by the letter ⟨ള⟩. Sub apical retroflex. Long and short forms are contrastive word-medially |
| Malayalam | Arabi Malayalam (Mapilla) | مَلَیٰاۻَمْ‎ | | 'Malayalam' |
| Mapudungun | Mapudungun | mara | [ˈmɜɭɜ] | 'hare' | Possible realization of /ʐ/; may be [ʐ] or [ɻ] instead. |
| Marathi | Marathi | बाळ | [baːɭ] | 'baby/child' | Represented by a ⟨ळ⟩. Pronounced as /ɭə/. See Marathi phonology. |
| Miyako | Irabu dialect | 昼間 ピィルマ | [pɭːma] | 'daytime' | Allophone of /ɾ/ used everywhere except syllable-initially. |
| Norwegian | Eastern and central dialects | farlig | [ˈfɑːɭi] | 'dangerous' | See Norwegian phonology |
| Odia | Odia | ଫଳ | [pʰɔɭɔ] | 'fruit' | Represented by a ⟨ଳ⟩. Pronounced as /ɭɔ/. |
| Parkari Koli | Parkari Koli | واۮۯون | [vaːɗaɭuːn] | ' clouds |
| Rajasthani | Rajasthani | फळ | [pʰəɭ] | 'fruit' | Represented by a ⟨ळ⟩. |
| Paiwan | Paiwan | ladjap | [ˈɭaɖap] | 'lightning' or 'flash' | See Paiwan phonology |
| Punjabi | Gurmukhi | ਤ੍ਰੇਲ਼ | [t̪ɾeɭ] | 'dew' | Represented by a ⟨ਲ਼⟩ and ⟨لؕ⟩. Font support may be required to see the letter in Shahmukhi. |
| Punjabi | Shahmukhi | تریلؕ | [t̪ɾeɭ] | 'dew' | Represented by a ⟨ਲ਼⟩ and ⟨لؕ⟩. Font support may be required to see the letter in Shahmukhi. |
| Sanskrit | Vedic | गरुळ | [gɐruɭɐ] | 'the mythological bird who Is the vahana of Lord Vishnu' | Represented by a ⟨ळ⟩. Pronounced as /ɭɐ/.This consonant was present in Vedic Sanskrit but had become /ɖ/ ⟨ड⟩ in classical Sanskrit. See Vedic Sanskrit and Sanskrit phonology. |
| Swedish | Swedish | sorl | | 'murmur' (noun) | See Swedish phonology |
| Tamil | Tamil | ஆள் / اٰۻْ | [äːɭ] | 'person' | Represented by a ⟨ள்⟩. See Tamil phonology |
| Telugu | Telugu | నీళ్ళు | | 'water' | Represented by a ⟨ళ⟩ |
| Wu Chinese | Northern Wu (Linping variety) | 而/er$^2$ | [eɭ˩˧] | 'conjunction (literary)' | A rhotic consonant (cf. Changzhounese /ɦər˨˩˧/) |