“Why can't I pronounce words with "l"?”
I am a 32 year old male and I have trouble pronouncing words with an "l" in them. Why can't I pronounce words with "l"?
8 Answers
It is likely an articulation disorder. As children, neural pathways are sort of solidified for motor movements, including those used by our tongues and other structures used to form the sounds in words. If you never learned the proper way to produce /l/, your neural pathways solidified for a different motor pattern (probably to produce /w/ instead). There is also the possibility of a structural issue like a tongue tie. Your dentist could take a look at the connective piece under your tongue to see if it is tethering your tongue too much, preventing the tip of it from reaching the ridge behind your top front teeth. I hope this helps!
It may be related to an articulation disorder. I would suggest having a consultation with a speech language pathologist
Have you always had difficulty with the L phoneme in words? How about when it's in a phrase or complete sentence? Is it at the beginning of words, middle or end? Is this a new difficulty for you? So many variables here. If it's bothersome, I advise seeking evaluation by SLP, particularly if this is a new impairment.
Depends. Are you from a country that speaks a language that doesn’t have / l /? If not, it could be your habit or your mouth structure. Are there other sounds that you produce incorrectly? Get yourself tested and get therapy. It is easy to correct /l /.
An evaluation by a speech therapist is needed and then some therapy to reduce your issues. Good luck.
Terlenda Lassiter
Speech-Language Pathologist
There can be many factors in that situation including background, heritage, native language, articulation experience, length of tongue tip, etc. You would benefit to consider a speech language pathology evaluation in your local area for a more thorough analysis.
I would recommend seeing a speech-language pathologist to complete an evaluation. There are many factors that may be negatively impacting your ability to say words with an /I/.
You may have an articulation delay for the “l” sound. If you want to improve it, you can seek out an evaluation with a local speech language pathologist.
Ali Matisse, MS CCC-SLP
Ali Matisse, MS CCC-SLP
