Pronunciation of Spanish Letter ll

The Spanish letter ll is a digraph. This means that the two letters produce one sound. It is common in many Spanish words and can occur word-initially and word-medially. However, the sound can vary

For most Spanish speakers the ll is the palatal approximant. It is the sound which occurs in English words such as yellow, yesterday and you. However, in certain dialects, it is deleted intervocalically in words such as ardilla (squirrel) grillo (cricket) and silla (chair).

Many Spanish speakers pronounce the ll as the voiced alveopalatal affricate. It is not restricted to one country but can be heard in many regions.

The ll can also represent the palatal lateral. It is the original sound of the letter, but is no longer used by most Spanish speakers. However, it is common in Paraguay and parts of Peru and Bolivia.

In Uruguay and most of Argentina, the ll is the voiceless alveopalatal fricative. The sound is associated with the Rioplatense dialect. In Argentina, though less common than the voiceless alveopalatal fricative, a number of speakers use the voiced alveopalatal fricative.

Most Spanish speakers pronounce the letter ll as the palatal approximant. However, the pronunciation varies from one dialect to another. It can also be the voiced alveopalatal affricate, the palatal lateral and the alveopalatal fricative.