'Ł' or 'ł', described in
English as 'L with stroke', is a letter of the
Polish,
Kashubian,
Sorbian,
Łacinka (Latin
Belarusian),
Wilamowicean,
Navajo,
Dene Suline Dogrib language alphabets, and of several proposed
alphabets for the
Venetian language. In Slavic languages, it represents the
Lechitic–
West Slavic continuation of
Proto-Slavic non-
palatal ''l'' (''see
dark L''). In most non-European languages, it represents a
voiceless alveolar lateral fricative or similar sound.
'Ł' first appeared in the
16th century, in
Polish texts.
In modern Polish, 'ł' is normally pronounced (almost exactly as 'w' in English as a consonant, as in ''were'', ''will'', ''firewall'' but not as in ''new'' or ''straw''). However, the old pronunciation (
velarized alveolar lateral approximant) is preserved in the eastern part of Poland and among the Polish minority in
Lithuania,
Belarus, and
Ukraine.
In Belarusian Łacinka, 'ł' corresponds to
Cyrillic '
л', and is normally pronounced (almost exactly as 'l' in English ''pull'').
In
Navajo, 'ł' is used for a
voiceless alveolar lateral fricative (), like the Welsh
Ll.
In
Venetian Language 'ł' is used in substitution for 'l' in many words in which the pronunciation of 'l' has become different for several varieties of the language, such as becoming mute or becoming the sound of English 'a' and the Venetian 'e'. For example: "la gondoła " can be pronunced as (in Venetian) "la gondola", or "la gòndoa", or "la gòndoea".
References
External links
★
Kreska ukośna in ''Polish Diacritics: How to?'', by
Adam Twardoch,
Polish country delegate at
ATypI