nonvelarized

Nonvelarized refers to the absence of velarization in the articulation of a consonant. Velarization is a secondary articulation in which the tongue dorsum retracts toward the velum (the soft palate), producing a darker or fuller resonance. A nonvelarized consonant, by contrast, lacks this retraction and is described as clear or light. The term is commonly used in descriptions of languages that contrast velarized and nonvelarized variants, or in reference to the English clear versus dark L distinction.

The most familiar case is the English L. In many dialects, the alveolar lateral approximant has two allophones: a velarized (dark) [ɫ], typically found in syllable-final position as in fall, and a nonvelarized (clear) [l], found in syllable-initial positions such as leaf. Other languages may have velarized and nonvelarized consonants across different types, with velarization affecting quality of various segments. Some languages contrast velarized and nonvelarized variants as separate phonemes, while others realize it as an allophonic variation depending on position or surrounding vowels.

Phonetic realization: velarization involves retraction of the tongue body toward the velum, sometimes accompanied by raising the tongue root; nonvelarized variants lack this tongue retraction, resulting in a lighter, brighter resonance. Acoustically, velarized segments may show darker spectral properties and lower energy in higher formants compared to their nonvelarized counterparts.

In summary, nonvelarized denotes the absence of the velarized, dark quality in a consonant, and is a key concept in describing phonetic and phonological contrasts in many languages, notably for the English clear L vs dark L distinction.