l

See also: I [U+0049 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I], 1 [U+0031 DIGIT ONE], ӏ [U+04CF CYRILLIC SMALL LETTER PALOCHKA], Ӏ [U+04C0 CYRILLIC LETTER PALOCHKA], and Appendix:Variations of "l"

l	U+006C, l LATIN SMALL LETTER L

← k
[U+006B]

Basic Latin

m →
[U+006D]

Character variations

ˡ	U+02E1, ˡ MODIFIER LETTER SMALL L

← ˠ
[U+02E0]

Spacing Modifier Letters

ˢ →
[U+02E2]

ⅼ	U+217C, ⅼ SMALL ROMAN NUMERAL FIFTY

← ⅻ
[U+217B]

Number Forms

ⅽ →
[U+217D]

ｌ	U+FF4C, ｌ FULLWIDTH LATIN SMALL LETTER L

← ｋ
[U+FF4B]

Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms

ｍ →
[U+FF4D]

Languages (53)

Translingual • English

Azerbaijani • Basque • Central Mazahua • Chipewyan • Dutch • Esperanto • Estonian • Faroese • Finnish • French • Fula • Gothic • Haitian Creole • Hawaiian • Hungarian • Icelandic • Ido • Indonesian • Italian • Kankanaey • Kashubian • Ladin • Latin • Latvian • Livonian • Malay • Maltese • Mirandese • Navajo • North Frisian • Norwegian • Nupe • Polish • Portuguese • Romani • Romanian • Scottish Gaelic • Serbo-Croatian • Seri • Silesian • Skolt Sami • Spanish • Swedish • Tagalog • Tlingit • Turkish • Turkmen • Welsh • Yele • Yoruba • Zulu

Page categories

Translingual

English Wikipedia has an article on:

l

Wikipedia

Letter

l (upper case L)

The twelfth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:l.

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Pronunciation of IPA [lːɑː, ɑllɑː] with the sound [l]: (file)

Symbol

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Alveolar lateral approximant

Wikipedia

l

(IPA) an alveolar lateral approximant.
(superscript ⟨ˡ⟩) lateral release; also [l]-coloring or a weak, fleeting or epenthetic [l] – see ⟨ˡ⟩.
litre or liter
Synonym: ℓ
The Roman numeral representing 50.
(linear) length (arclength is often denoted with a cursive l)

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:l.

Synonyms

(litre): L

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

L, l, Ⅼ, XXXXX, xxxxx, ↆ

Symbol

l

Ⅼ, the Roman numeral fifty (50)

Gallery

Letter styles
Uppercase and lowercase versions of L, in normal and italic type
Uppercase and lowercase L in Fraktur

English

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

(letter name) IPA^(key): /ɛl/

Audio (US):

(file)

Audio (UK):

(file)

Rhymes: -ɛl

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /l/
(main allophones) IPA^(key): [l], [ɫ], [w]

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L, plural ls or l's)

The twelfth letter of the English alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script.

Number

l (lower case, upper case L)

The ordinal number twelfth, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

Abbreviation.

(stenoscript) the sound sequence /ɛl/.
(stenoscript) Abbreviation of will.
(stenoscript) Abbreviation of well.
(stenoscript) Abbreviation of all.
(stenoscript) the suffix -ly or word-final syllable /liː/.

Derived terms

Noun

l

Abbreviation of litre/liter.
Abbreviation of pound (sterling), derived from Latin libra.
Alternative form: l.
- 1837, Joseph Chitty, The Practice of the Law in All Its Principal Departments, page 116:
  And where a barrister, in summing up the items proved before him as arbitrator, misadded them, and thereby by mistake omitted 23l. in favour of the plaintiff, the Court, even at the instance of the barrister, would not allow an amendment, the defendant's counsel objecting.
Abbreviation of leaf.
(law) Abbreviation of line.
Abbreviation of loss/lose.

Etymology 3

Interjection

l

(The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:) (Internet slang) Clipping of lol.

Azerbaijani

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l lower case (upper case L)

The eighteenth letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

Abbreviation.

Noun

l

Abbreviation of iyul (“July”).

Usage notes

Used to prevent the mishearing of iyul (“July”) as iyun (“June”); see also n.

Basque

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ele/, [e̞.le̞]

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The twelfth letter of the Basque alphabet, called ele and written in the Latin script.

Central Mazahua

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l (upper case L)

A letter of the Mazahua alphabet.

Chipewyan

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɮ/

Letter

l (upper case L)

A letter of the Chipewyan alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Dutch

Pronunciation

Rhymes: -ɛl
(letter name): IPA^(key): /ɛl/

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

the twelfth letter of the Dutch alphabet

Noun

l m (plural l'en, diminutive l'etje n)

(euphemistic) Short for lul or any other word starting with an l.

Esperanto

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /lo/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/
Audio: (file)

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The fifteenth letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called lo and written in the Latin script.

Estonian

Estonian Wikipedia has an article on:

l

Wikipedia ^et

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈelː/

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The twelfth letter of the Estonian alphabet, called ell and written in the Latin script.

Faroese

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l (upper case L)

The fourteenth letter of the Faroese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Finnish

Etymology

The Finnish orthography using the Latin script was based on those of Swedish, German and Latin, and was first used in the mid-16th century. No earlier script is known. See the Wikipedia article on Finnish for more information, and l for information on the development of the glyph itself.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈæl/, [ˈæl] (letter name)
IPA^(key): /ˈælːæ/, [ˈælːæ] (letter name)
Audio: äl, lahdelma, pallo, äl: (file)
Rhymes: -æl

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The twelfth letter of the Finnish alphabet, called äl or el and written in the Latin script.

French

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛl/

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The twelfth letter of the French alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Fula

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

A letter of the Fula alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

Common to all varieties of Fula (Fulfulde / Pulaar / Pular).

Gothic

Romanization

l

Romanization of 𐌻

Haitian Creole

Etymology

Contraction of li, from French lui.

Pronoun

l

Contraction of li.

Hawaiian

Alternative forms

(letter name) lā

Pronunciation

(letter name) IPA^(key): /ˈlaː/

Letter

l

The eighth letter of the Hawaiian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Hungarian

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): [ˈl]
(letter name): IPA^(key): [ˈɛlː]

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The nineteenth letter of the Hungarian alphabet, called ell and written in the Latin script.

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	l	l-ek
accusative	l-et	l-eket
dative	l-nek	l-eknek
instrumental	l-lel	l-ekkel
causal-final	l-ért	l-ekért
translative	l-lé	l-ekké
terminative	l-ig	l-ekig
essive-formal	l-ként	l-ekként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	l-ben	l-ekben
superessive	l-en	l-eken
adessive	l-nél	l-eknél
illative	l-be	l-ekbe
sublative	l-re	l-ekre
allative	l-hez	l-ekhez
elative	l-ből	l-ekből
delative	l-ről	l-ekről
ablative	l-től	l-ektől
non-attributive possessive - singular	l-é	l-eké
non-attributive possessive - plural	l-éi	l-ekéi

Possessive forms of l
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	l-em	l-jeim
2nd person sing.	l-ed	l-jeid
3rd person sing.	l-je	l-jei
1st person plural	l-ünk	l-jeink
2nd person plural	l-etek	l-jeitek
3rd person plural	l-jük	l-jeik

Icelandic

Letter

l (upper case L)

The fifteenth letter of the Icelandic alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Ido

Pronunciation

(context pronunciation) IPA^(key): /l/
(letter name) IPA^(key): /le/

Letter

l (upper case L)

The twelfth letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Indonesian

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /ɛl/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The twelfth letter of the Indonesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Italian

Letter

l f or m (invariable, lower case, upper case L)

The tenth letter of the Italian alphabet, called elle and written in the Latin script.

Kankanaey

Etymology

Borrowed from Tagalog l. Letter pronunciation is influenced by English l.

Pronunciation

(letter name) IPA^(key): /ʔel/ [ʔel]
- IPA^(key): (Sagada & parts of Sabangan) /ʔer/ [ʔer]
- Rhymes: -el, (Sagada & parts of Sabangan) -er
(phoneme) IPA^(key): /l/ [l]
- IPA^(key): (Sagada & parts of Sabangan) /r/ [r]

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The twelfth letter of the Kankanaey alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script.

References

Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (2016) Ortograpiya di Kankanaëy [Kankanaey Orthography]‎^[1] (in Kankanaey and Tagalog), →ISBN, pages 10-11

Kashubian

Etymology

The Kashubian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Kashubian alphabet article on Wikipedia for more, and l for development of the glyph itself.

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The sixteenth letter of the Kashubian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Ladin

Article

l m (singular)

the

Latin

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

A letter in the Latin alphabet, representing the sound /l/

Latvian

Latvian Wikipedia has an article on:

l

Wikipedia ^lv

Etymology

Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [l]
Audio: (file)

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The eighteenth letter of the Latvian alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script.

Livonian

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l (upper case L)

The seventeenth letter of the Livonian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Malay

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The twelfth letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Maltese

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The sixteenth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Mirandese

Article

l m pl (plural ls, feminine la, feminine plural las)

the (definite article)
l cochino come maçanas
the pig eats apples

Navajo

Letter

l (upper case L)

A letter of the Navajo alphabet, written in the Latin script.

North Frisian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [l]

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

A letter of the North Frisian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

As in German, the unstressed syllable ⟨el⟩ usually becomes syllabic [l̩].

Norwegian

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /elː/, /ɛlː/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/, /ɭ/, /ɽ/
Audio: (file)

Letter

l

The 12th letter of the Norwegian alphabet.

Usage notes

/ɭ/ Retroflex, merge of rl.
/ɽ/ Tjukk L (thick L), a phenomemon found in the eastern part of Norway, around Oslo and north.

Nupe

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The fifteenth letter of the Nupe alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Polish

Etymology

The Polish orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the history of Polish orthography article on Wikipedia for more, and l for development of the glyph itself.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈɛl/

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The fifteenth letter of the Polish alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

Audio (Brazil): (file)

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The twelfth letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.
1. (humorous, possibly offensive) Sometimes, the consonant r is changed to l when depicting stereotypical speech of a Chinese person
  - 1989, "O estranho que veio da China", Ranma ½, episode 1, Brazilian dub
    Chinese man: [speaking in broken Portuguese] Vocês, senholes, muito estlanhos, não? Este lugar muito peligoso! Ninguém usa agola, tem mais de cem fontes aqui. E cada uma delas tem uma lenda telivelmente tlágica!
    Chinese man: [speaking in broken Portuguese] You, gentlemen, are very weird, no? This place is very dangerous! Nobody uses it nowadays, it has more than one hundred springs here. And each one has a terribly tragic legend.

Romani

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

(International Standard) The sixteenth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.
(Pan-Vlax) The seventeenth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Romanian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The fifteenth letter of the Romanian alphabet, called el, le, or lî and written in the Latin script.

Scottish Gaelic

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The tenth letter of the Scottish Gaelic alphabet, written in the Latin script. It is preceded by i and followed by m. Its traditional name is luis (“rowan”).

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

L (uppercase)

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l (Cyrillic spelling л)

The 16th letter of the Serbo-Croatian Latin alphabet (gajica), preceded by k and followed by lj.

Seri

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɬ/

Letter

l (upper case L)

The tenth letter of the Seri alphabet, called heḻe and written in the Latin script.

References

Moser, Mary B., Marlett, Stephen A. (2010) Comcaac quih yaza quih hant ihiip hac: cmiique iitom - cocsar iitom - maricaana iitom [Seri-Spanish-English Dictionary], 2nd edition, Hermosillo: Plaza y Valdés Editores, →ISBN, page 440.

Silesian

Etymology

The Silesian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Silesian language article on Wikipedia for more, and l for development of the glyph itself.

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The fourteenth letter of the Silesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l (upper case L)

The twentieth letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Spanish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (phoneme) /l/
IPA^(key): (letter name) /ˈele/ [ˈe.le]
- Audio (Spain): (file)
- Rhymes: -ele

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The twelfth letter of the Spanish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Swedish

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The twelfth letter of the Swedish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish l. Each pronunciation has a different source:

Filipino alphabet pronunciation is influenced by English l.
Abakada alphabet pronunciation is influenced by Baybayin character ᜎ (la).
Abecedario pronunciation is from Spanish l.

Pronunciation

(Standard Tagalog)
- IPA^(key): /ˈʔel/ [ˈʔɛl] (letter name, Filipino alphabet)
  - Rhymes: -el
- IPA^(key): /ˈla/ [ˈla] (letter name, Abakada alphabet)
  - Rhymes: -a
- IPA^(key): /ˈʔele/ [ˈʔɛː.lɛ] (letter name, Abecedario)
  - Rhymes: -ele
- IPA^(key): /l/ [l] (phoneme)

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L, Baybayin spelling ᜁᜎ᜔)

The twelfth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Filipino alphabet), called el and written in the Latin script.

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L, Baybayin spelling ᜎ)

The ninth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Abakada alphabet), called la and written in the Latin script.

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L, Baybayin spelling ᜁᜎᜒ)

(historical) The thirteenth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Abecedario), called ele and written in the Latin script.

Tlingit

Pronunciation

(US) IPA^(key): /ɬ/
(Canada) IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l (upper case L)

(US) A letter of the Tlingit alphabet, written in the Latin script.
Synonym: ł
(Canada) A letter of the Tlingit alphabet, written in the Latin script.
Synonym: ḻ

Turkish

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The fifteenth letter of the Turkish alphabet, called le and written in the Latin script.

Turkmen

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l (upper case L)

The fourteenth letter of the Turkmen alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script.

Welsh

Pronunciation

(standard) IPA^(key): /ɛl/
- (informal) IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The fifteenth letter of the Welsh alphabet, called èl and written in the Latin script. It is preceded by j and followed by ll.

Mutation

Dd cannot be mutated in Welsh.

Yele

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

l (upper case L)

A letter of the Yele alphabet.

Derived terms

The digraph ⟨lv⟩ transcribes the single consonant /l͡βʲ/

There is a digraph for palatalized ⟨ly⟩ (/lʲ/).

Yoruba

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/
(letter name): IPA^(key): /lí/

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The thirteenth letter of the Yoruba alphabet, called lí and written in the Latin script.

Zulu

Letter

l (lower case, upper case L)

The twelfth letter of the Zulu alphabet, written in the Latin script.