Regrettably, the embedded audio in the pdf for “General” American 102 ran on Adobe Flash, which ceased to be supported on December 31st, 2020, and so those clips will no longer play directly in the pdfs, as originally intended. All of the audio clips can now be found on this page.
LOOK → l ~ ɫ (light /l/ or dark /ɫ/)
RAIL → ɫ ~ ʟ̞ (dark /ɫ/ or ‘vocalized’ /l/)
The Tongue Tip
In a great many languages, and in a great many varieties of English, the tongue tip touches the upper teeth to articulate /t, d, n, l/ sounds. In SCGA, it touches the alveolar ridge—the gum ridge behind the upper teeth.
Here’s what the CLOTH/THOUGHT vowel might sound like in an unmerged accent:
commA → ə
OF .. WAS .. FROM → əv .. wəz .. fɹəm