L: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Twelfth12th letter of the Latin alphabet}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}{{About|the letter of the alphabet}}

|typedesc=ic and [[Logographiclogographic]]

|phonemes={{grid list|[{{IPAlink|l}}]<br>|[{{IPAlink|ɫ}}]<br>|[{{IPAlink|ɮ}}]<br>|[{{IPAlink|ɬ}}]<br>|[{{IPAlink|ʎ}}]<br>|[{{IPAlink|ɭ}}]<br>|[{{IPAlink|w}}]|[{{IPAlink|ʟ}}]|{{IPAc-en|ɛ|l}}}}

|usageperiod=~-700−700 to present

|children={{bull}}grid list|[[ɮ]]<br>{{bull}}|[[Ꝇ]] [[ꝇ]]<br>{{bull}}|[[ℒ]] [[ℓ]]<br>{{bull}}|[[£]]<br>{{bull}}|[[Ł]]<br>{{bull}}|[[ᛚ]]<br>{{bull}}|[[Teuthonista|ꬸ]]<br>{{bull|L}}L

|sisters={{grid list|[[Л]]<br>|[[Љ]]<br>|[[Ӆ]]<br>|[[Ԯ]]<br>|[[Lamedh|ל<br>]]|[[Lamedh|ل<br>]]|[[Lamedh|ܠ]]<br>|[[ⵍ]]<br>|[[ࠋ]]<br>|[[𐡋]]<br>|[[ለ]]<br>|[[Azimuthal quantum number|''ℓ'']]}}

|direction=Left-to-Rightright

'''L''', or '''l''', is the twelfth [[Letter (alphabet)|letter]] inof the [[Latin alphabet]], used in the [[English alphabet|modern English alphabet]], the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is [[English alphabet#Letter names|''el'']] (pronounced {{IPAc-en|'|ɛ|l}} {{respell|EL}}), plural ''els''.<ref>"L" ''Oxford English Dictionary,'' 2nd edition (1989) ''Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged.'' (1993); "el", "ells", ''op. cit.''</ref>

! Phoenician<br/>''[[lamedh]]''

! GreekEtruscan<br/>''[[Lambda]]''L

! [[Latin alphabet|Latin]] <br/>L

| [[File:LambdaCapitalis ucmonumentalis lcL.svgSVG|x35pxx30px|Latin L]]

Lamedh may have come from a pictogram of an ox [[goad]] or [[cattle prod]]. Some have suggested that it represents a shepherd's staff.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/3_lam.html|title = Ancient Hebrew Research Center|access-date = 12 January 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150103100530/http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/3_lam.html|archive-date = 3 January 2015|url-status = dead}}</ref>

In [[English orthography]], {{angbr|l}} usually represents the phoneme {{IPAc-en|l}}, which can have several sound values, depending on the speaker's accent, and whether it occurs before or after a vowel. TheIn [[Received Pronunciation]], the [[alveolar lateral approximant]] (the sound represented in [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] by lowercase {{IPA|[l]}}) occurs before a vowel, as in ''lip'' or ''blend'', while the [[velarized alveolar lateral approximant]] (IPA {{IPA|[ɫ]}}) occurs in ''bell'' and ''milk''. This velarization does not occur in many European languages that use {{angbr|l}}; it is also a factor making the pronunciation of {{angbr|l}} difficult for users of languages that lack {{angbr|l}} or have different values for it, such as [[Japanese language|Japanese]] or some southern dialects of [[Chinese language|Chinese]]. A medical condition or speech impediment restricting the pronunciation of {{angbr|l}} is known as [[lambdacism]].

* The capital letter L is used as the [[currency sign]] for the [[Albanian lek]] and the [[Honduran lempira]]. It was often used, especially in handwriting, as the currency sign for the [[Italian lira]]. Historically, it was commonly used as a currency sign for the British [[pound sterling]] (to abbreviate the Latin {{lang|la|[[Carolingian pound|libra]]}}, a pound, see [[£sd]]); in modern usage, it has been overtaken by the [[pound sign]] (£), which is based on the [[blackletter]] form of the letter. In running text, its lower-case form (usually [[italics|italicised]]), ''<span style="font-family:serif">l</span>'', was more often seen.{{efn|For example, see the [[Diary of Samuel Pepys]] for 31{{nbsp}}December 1661: " I suppose myself to be worth about 500''l.'' clear in the world, ..."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pepys |first=Samuel |title=The Diary of Samuel Pepys | chapter=Tuesday 31 December 1661 |date=31 December 2004 |chapter-url=https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1661/12/31/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124225143/https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1661/12/31/ |archive-date=24 November 2021}}</ref>}}

* The [[Roman numeral]] L represents the number [[50 (number)|50]].<ref name="Gordon">{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedintro0000gord | url-access=registration | quote=roman numerals. | title=Illustrated Introduction to Latin Epigraphy | publisher=University of California Press | date=1983 | access-date=3 October 2015 | author=Gordon, Arthur E. | pages=[https://archive.org/details/illustratedintro0000gord/page/44 44]| isbn=9780520038981 }}</ref>

*[[Uralic Phonetic Alphabet]]-specific symbols related to L:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2002/02141-n2419-uralic-phonetic.pdf|title=L2/02-141: Uralic Phonetic Alphabet characters for the UCS|date=2002-03-20|first1=Michael|last1=Everson|author-link1=Michael Everson|display-authors=etal}}</ref>
**{{Unichar|1D0C|LATIN LETTER SMALL CAPITAL L WITH STROKE}} and
**{{Unichar|1D38|MODIFIER LETTER CAPITAL L}}

*Ꞁ ꞁ : Turned L was used by [[William Pryce]] to designate the Welsh voiced lateral spirant [ɬ]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2006/06266-n3122-insular.pdf|title=L2/06-266: Proposal to add Latin letters and a Greek symbol to the UCS|date=2006-08-06|first=Michael|last=Everson}}</ref> The lower case is also used in the [[Romic alphabet]]. In Unicode, these are {{unichar|A780|latin capital letter turned l}}, and {{unichar|A781|LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED L}}.

*ℒ ℓ𝓁 : Script[[Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols|script letter]] L (capitaluppercase and lowercase, respectively), used in mathematics. (In other contexts, a [[script typeface]] (or [[computer font]]) should be used.)

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