/l/

Across the Scottish English continuum, the secondary articulation of /l/ tends to be dark in all positions in the word (Wells 1982: 11; Johnston 1997: 510). Exceptional use of clear /l/ is sometimes found in Highland English and occasionally in Scottish Standard English with a distribution similar to that of English English (Macafee 1983: 33). In the 1997 Glasgow data velarized, and velarized and pharyngealized secondary articulations were heard.

/l/-vocalization was a historical process in Scots, yielding common forms such as a’ ‘all’ (Macafee 1983: 38). More recently, /l/-vocalization of the kind usually found in southern English, to a high back vowel  or [o] (Wells 1982: 258) was reported in Glaswegian (Macafee 1983: 34), and confirmed by subsequent analysis, especially for working class adolescents.