View source for Ll

{{short description|Digraph}}
{{About|the letter combination||LL (disambiguation){{!}}LL}}
{{Distinguish|text=[[Lateral click|ǁ]], the lateral click}}
[[File:Latin digraph L L.svg|thumb|Latin Ll digraph.]]
'''Ll'''/'''ll''' is a [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]] that occurs in several [[language]]s.
==English==
{{No sources section|date=November 2024}}
In [[English language|English]], {{angbr|ll}} often represents the same sound as single {{angbr|l}}: {{IPA|/l/}}. The doubling is used to indicate that the preceding vowel is (historically) short, or that the "l" sound is to be extended longer than a single {{angbr|l.}} would provide ([[etymology|etymologically]], in [[latinism]]s coming from a [[gemination]]). Different English language traditions use {{angbr|l}} and {{angbr|ll}} in different words: for example the past tense form of "travel" is spelt "{{lang|en-GB|travelled}}" in British English but "{{lang|en-US|traveled}}" in American English. See also: [[American and British English spelling differences#Doubled consonants]]. {{angbr|ll}} is also used in syllable-coda position in monosyllabic words or compounds derived from them, such as "{{lang|en-GB|will}}", "{{lang|en-GB|mall}}", and "{{lang|en-GB|killjoy}}"
==Welsh==<!-- This section is linked from [[Llanfairpwllgwyngyll]] and the letter LL -->
[[File:Latin letter middle-welsh LL.svg|thumb|The Middle-Welsh LL ligature.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C00O1ZYs0pAC|title=Example of a book using the "ll" ligature|isbn=9781402153075|access-date=20 September 2014|last1=Rhys|first1=John|date=December 2003|publisher=Adegi Graphics LLC }}</ref><br />[[Unicode]]: U+1EFA and U+1EFB.]]
In [[Welsh language|Welsh]], {{angbr|ll}} stands for a [[Voiceless dental and alveolar lateral fricatives|voiceless alveolar lateral fricative]] sound ([[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]: {{IPA|[ɬ]}}). This sound is very common in [[Welsh place names|place names]] in [[Wales]] because it occurs in the word {{lang|cy|[[Llan (placename)|llan]]}}, for example, {{lang|cy|italic=no|[[Llanelli]]}}, where the {{angbr|ll}} appears twice, or {{lang|cy|italic=no|[[Llanfairpwllgwyngyll]]}}, where (in the long version of the name) the {{angbr|ll}} appears five times – with two instances of {{lang|cy|llan}} and two consecutive {{angbr|ll}} in {{lang|cy|-drobwllllan-}}.
In Welsh, {{angbr|ll}} is a separate ''digraph letter''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.comisiynyddygymraeg.cymru/english/Part%203/10%20Locales%20alphabets%20and%20character%20sets/10.2%20Alphabets/Pages/10-2-Alphabets.aspx |title=Alphabets |access-date=2020-08-05 |archive-date=2020-09-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917002233/http://www.comisiynyddygymraeg.cymru/english/Part%203/10%20Locales%20alphabets%20and%20character%20sets/10.2%20Alphabets/Pages/10-2-Alphabets.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> from {{angbr|l}} (e.g., {{lang|cy|lwc}} sorts before {{lang|cy|llaw}}). In modern Welsh this, and other digraph letters, are written with two symbols but count as one letter. In Middle Welsh it was written with a tied ligature; this ligature is included in the [[Latin Extended Additional]] Unicode block as {{unichar|1EFA|LATIN CAPITAL LETTER MIDDLE-WELSH LL}} and {{unichar|1EFB|LATIN SMALL LETTER MIDDLE-WELSH LL}}.<ref>Everson, Michael & al. "[http://www.mufi.info/proposals/n3027-medieval.pdf Proposal to add medievalist characters to the UCS] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716181924/http://www.mufi.info/proposals/n3027-medieval.pdf |date=2011-07-16 }}". 30 Jan 2006. Accessed 29 January 2013.</ref> This ligature is seldom used in Modern Welsh, but equivalent ligatures may be included in modern fonts, for example the three fonts commissioned by the [[Welsh Government]] in 2020.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/16-22-march-2020/a-typeface-has-been-designed-for-the-welsh-language/ |title=A typeface has been designed for the Welsh language |last=Wong |first=Henry |date=March 20, 2020 |website=[[Design Week|designweek.co.uk]] |access-date=April 12, 2020}}</ref>
==Romance languages==
===Asturian===
[[File:Cartelu cola llínia C1 de Renfe Cercaníes dende La Corredoria.jpg|thumb|upright|{{angbr|ḷḷ}} used on a sign in [[Cercanías Asturias|Cercanías Asturies]] as part of the place name {{lang|ast|Viḷḷayana}}]]
In the standard [[Asturian language|Asturian]] orthography published by the [[Academy of the Asturian Language]] in 1981, {{angbr|ll}} represents the phoneme {{IPA|/ʎ/}} ([[palatal lateral approximant]]).<ref name="Asturian orthography">{{cite web|url=https://www.alladixital.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Normes-Ortogr%C3%A1fiques-7%C2%AA-edici%C3%B3n-2012.pdf|title=Normes ortográfiques|publisher=[[Academy of the Asturian Language]]|date=2012|access-date=2024-01-27|language=ast}}</ref>
A variation of this digraph, {{angbr|l-l}}, is used to separate a verb form that ends in -l and the [[Clitic#Enclitic|enclitics]] {{lang|ast|lu}}, {{lang|ast|la}}, {{lang|ast|lo}}, {{lang|ast|los}} or {{lang|ast|les}}. This is pronounced as a [[gemination|geminated]] {{angbr|l}} {{IPA|/ll/}}. For example, {{lang|ast|val-lo}} ("it is worth it").<ref name="Asturian orthography"/>
Another variation of this digraph, {{angbr|ḷḷ}}, is used to represent a set of dialectal phonemes used in [[Western Asturian]] that correspond to {{IPA|/ʎ/}} in other dialects: {{IPA|[ɖ]}} ([[voiced retroflex plosive]]), {{IPA|[ɖʐ]}} ([[voiced retroflex affricate]]), {{IPA|[ʈʂ]}} ([[voiceless retroflex affricate]]) or {{IPA|[t͡s]}} ([[voiceless alveolar affricate]]). This may also be written as {{angbr|l.l}} in devices that do not support the Unicode characters {{unichar|1E36|Latin capital letter L with dot below}} and {{unichar|1E37|Latin small letter L with dot below}}.<ref name="Asturian orthography"/>
===Catalan===
In [[Catalan language|Catalan]], {{angbr|ll}} represents the phoneme {{IPAslink|ʎ}}, as in {{lang|ca|llengua}} (language, tongue), {{lang|ca|enllaç}} (linkage, connection), or {{lang|ca|coltell}} (knife).
====L with middle dot====
[[File:Latin digraph L with middle dot L.svg|thumb|Latin Ll digraph with middle dot]]
In order to not confuse {{angbr|ll}} {{IPA|/ʎ/}} with a [[gemination|geminated]] {{angbr|l}} {{IPA|/ll/}}, Catalan uses a middle dot ([[interpunct]] or {{lang|ca|punt volat}} in Catalan) in between  {{angbr|ŀl}}. For example {{lang|ca|exceŀlent}} ("excellent"). The first character in the digraph, {{angbr|Ŀ}} and {{angbr|ŀ}}, is included in the [[Latin Extended-A]] Unicode block at U+013F (uppercase) and U+0140 (lowercase) respectively.
In Catalan typography, {{angbr|ŀl}} is intended to fill two spaces, not three,<ref name="Rafel1984">{{Cite book|first=Fabra |last=Pompeu |chapter=Conversa 323, del 22.01.1923, i Conversa 391, del 13.06.1923 |language=ca|url=http://femfum.com/PDF/ElaGeminada/PF_CF_323_391.pdf |editor=Joaquim Rafel i Fontanals |title=Converses Filològiques Volum II |access-date=29 December 2012 |publisher=Fundació Enciclopèdia Catalana |location=Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain |date=September 1984 |isbn=84-350-5111-0 }}</ref> so the interpunct is placed in the narrow space between the two {{angbr|l}}s: {{angbr|ĿL}} and {{angbr|ŀl}}. However, it is common to write {{angbr|L·L}} and {{angbr|l·l}}, occupying three spaces. {{angbr|L.L}} and {{angbr|l.l}}, although sometimes seen, are incorrect.
===Galician===
In official [[Galician language|Galician]] spelling the {{angbr|ll}} combination stands for the phoneme {{IPA|/ʎ/}} ([[palatal lateral approximant]], a palatal counterpart of {{IPA|/l/}}).
===Spanish===
<div style="float:right">{{IPA soundbox|ʎ}}{{IPA soundbox|ʝ|Voiced_palatal_fricative.ogg}}</div>
In Spanish, {{angbr|ll}} was considered from 1754 to 2010 the fourteenth letter of the [[Spanish alphabet]] because of its representation of a palatal lateral articulation consonant phoneme (as defined by the [[Royal Academy of the Spanish Language]]).<ref>Real Academia Española y Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española, Ortografía de la lengua española (2010), tapa rústica, primera edición impresa en México, Editorial Planeta Mexicana, S.A. de C.V., bajo el sello editorial ESPASA M.R., México D.F., marzo de 2011, páginas 64 y 65.</ref>
* This single letter was called {{lang|es|elle}} pronounced "elye", but often losing the /l/ sound and simplifying to "eh-ye".
* The letter was [[collation|collated]] after {{angbr|[[l]]}} as a separate entry from 1803 until April 1994 when the X Congress of the [[Association of Spanish Language Academies]] adopted standard Latin alphabet collation rules. Since then, the digraph {{angbr|ll}} has been considered a sequence of two characters.<ref>[http://www.asale.org/la-asociacion/actividad-institucional/x-congreso-madrid-1994 X Congreso (Madrid, 1994)], official website.</ref> (A similar situation occurred with the Spanish-language digraph [[ch (digraph)|ch]].)
* [[Hypercorrection]] leads some to wrongly capitalize {{angbr|ll}} as a single letter, as with the [[Dutch language|Dutch]] [[IJ (letter)|IJ]], for example *{{lang|es|LLosa}} instead of {{lang|es|[[Llosa (disambiguation)|Llosa]]}}. In [[handwriting]], {{angbr|Ll}} is written as a [[Typographic ligature|ligature]] of two {{angbr|l}}s, with distinct uppercase and lowercase forms.
* Today, most Spanish speakers pronounce {{angbr|ll}} and {{angbr|y}} as the same sound, a phenomenon called [[yeísmo]]. In much of the Spanish-speaking Americas, and in many regions of Spain, {{angbr|ll}} and {{angbr|y}} are pronounced {{IPA|/ʝ/}} ([[voiced palatal fricative]]); speakers in [[Colombian Spanish|Colombia]] and [[Tabasco]], [[Mexico]], as well as [[Rioplatense Spanish|Rioplatense]] speakers in both [[Argentina]] and [[Uruguay]], pronounce {{angbr|ll}} and {{angbr|y}} as {{IPA|/ʒ/}} ([[voiced postalveolar fricative]]) or {{IPA|/ʃ/}} ([[voiceless postalveolar fricative]]). The original pronunciation of {{angbr|ll}} —the phoneme {{IPA|/ʎ/}} ([[palatal lateral approximant]])— still exists in northern Spain (mostly in rural areas) and in Andes Mountains. In parts of Colombia and in the Andean regions of Ecuador, {{angbr|ll}} is pronounced {{IPA|/ʒ/}} but {{angbr|y}} is pronounced {{IPA|/ʝ/}}.
==Philippine languages==
While [[languages of the Philippines|Philippine languages]] like [[Tagalog language|Tagalog]] and [[Ilocano language|Ilocano]] write {{angbr|ly}} or {{angbr|li}} when spelling Spanish loanwords, {{angbr|ll}} still survives in proper nouns.  However, the pronunciation of {{angbr|ll}} is simply {{IPA|[lj]}} rather than {{IPA|[ʎ]}}. Hence the surnames ''Llamzon'', ''Llamas'', ''Padilla'', ''Bellen'', ''Basallote'' and ''Villanueva'' are respectively pronounced {{IPA|[ljɐmˈzon]}}/{{IPA|[ljɐmˈson]}}, {{IPA|[ˈljɐmas]}}, {{IPA|[pɐˈdɪːlja]}}, {{IPA|[bɪːlˈjɛːn]}}, {{IPA|[bɐsɐlˈjotɛ]}} and {{IPA|[ˌbɪːljanuˈwɛːba]}}/{{IPA|[ˌvɪːljanuˈwɛːva]}}.
Furthermore, in Ilocano {{angbr|ll}} represents a [[geminate]] [[alveolar lateral approximant]] {{IPA|/lː/}}, like in [[Italian language|Italian]].
==Albanian==
In [[Albanian language|Albanian]], {{angbr|L}} stands for the sound {{IPA|/l/}}, while {{angbr|Ll}} is pronounced as the [[velarization|''velarized'']] sound {{IPA|/ɫ/}}.
==Icelandic==
In [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]], the {{angbr|ll}} can represent {{IPA|[tɬ]}} (similar to a [[voiceless alveolar lateral affricate]]),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2264|title=Language Log|access-date=20 September 2014}}</ref> {{IPA|
[ɬ]}} or {{IPA|[l]}} depending on which letters surround it. {{IPA|[tɬ]}} appears in {{lang|is|fullur}} ("full", masculine), {{IPA|[ɬ]}} appears in {{lang|is|fullt}} ("full", neuter), and {{IPA|[l]}} appears in {{lang|is|fulls}} ("full", neuter genitive). The geographical name [[Eyjafjallajökull]] includes the {{IPA|[tɬ]}} sound twice.
===Broken L===
In [[Old Norse#Old Icelandic|Old Icelandic]], the '''broken L''' ligature appears in some instances, such as {{lang|non|vꜹꝇum}} (field) and {{lang|non|oꝇo}} (all).<ref>{{cite thesis|title=Icelandic or Norwegian Scribe? An Empirical Study of AM 310 4to, AM 655 XII-XIII 4to and AM 655 XIV 4to|first=Attila Márk|last=Bulenda|type=MA|publisher=Háskóli Íslands|page=19|url=https://skemman.is/bitstream/1946/24094/1/Attila_Mark_Bulenda_MA_Thesis_VMN.pdf|access-date=May 3, 2020}}</ref> It takes the form of a lowercase {{angbr|l}} with the top half shifted to the left, connected to the lower half with a thin horizontal stroke. This ligature is encoded in the [[Latin Extended-D]] Unicode block at U+A746 (uppercase) and U+A747 (lowercase), displaying as '''Ꝇ''' and '''ꝇ''' respectively.
==Inuit-Yupik languages==
[[File:Greenlandic and Faroese Permanent Representation to the EU.jpg|upright=1.6|thumb|{{angbr|LL}} appearing in Greenlandic text.  The text reads {{lang|kl|Kalaallit nunaata aallartitaqarfia}}.]]
In [[Central Alaskan Yupʼik language|Central Alaskan Yupʼik]] and the [[Greenlandic language]], {{angbr|ll}} stands for {{IPA|/ɬː/}}.
==Other languages==
In the [[Gwoyeu Romatzyh]] romanization of [[Standard Chinese|Mandarin Chinese]], final {{angbr|-ll}} indicates a falling tone on a syllable ending in {{IPA|/ɻ/}}, which is otherwise spelled {{angbr|-l}}.
In [[Haida language|Haida]] (Bringhurst orthography), {{angbr|ll}} is [[glottalized]] {{IPA|/ˀl/}}.
==See also==
* [[Lh (digraph)]]
* [[Lj (digraph)]]
* [[Hungarian ly]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Latin script}}
[[Category:Latin-script digraphs]]