Prevocalic and postvocalic /l/ were investigated in three adult subjects utilizing a combination of electropalatographic and acoustic techniques. Results indicated that prevocalic /l/ was characterized by both alveolar and lateral lingua-palatal contact, while postvocalic /l/ was primarily alveolar contact only. Acoustically, prevocalic /l/ had a lower first formant and higher second formant than postvocalic /l/. In addition, the second and third formants were often weak or absent for prevocalic but not postvocalic /l/. Vowel context had a greater effect on the electropalatographic and acoustic characteristics of prevocalic than postvocalic /l/. Models that relate physiological and acoustical aspects of speech were utilized to account for the observed results.
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