Pronunciation: words with "LL"

[hmc25]

Can someone breakdown the mechanics of how to correctly pronounce words with double LL's in the middle of a word? I speak dutch natively and have a hardtime pronouncing words like billy, philly, silly, filling, chilli, spelling, willy.

Do you have to pronounce it the same as light L or dark L?

Help is appreciated, thank you.

 

[probus]

Hello @hmc25 and welcome to the forum. I have moved your thread from Ask a Teacher to Pronunciation and Phonetics. I will not attempt an answer but defer to other teachers who know more than I.

 

[hmc25]

Thank you.

 

[teechar]

Hello there, and welcome to the forum.

Can someone breakdown the mechanics of how to correctly pronounce words with double LL's in the middle of a word?

I'm not sure what you mean by "mechanics", but if you're looking for a set of rules, then I don't think any exists.

I speak dutch natively and have a hard time pronouncing words like billy, philly, silly, filling, chilli, spelling, willy.

You can always look up words in the dictionary www.onelook.com and click on the speaker icon to hear how native speakers pronounce them. Also, try www.forvo.com.

Note that regional accents also play a role.
For example, a native BrE speaker would pronounce "silly" with a light "L", whereas an American or an Australian would do so with a dark "L".

 

[jutfrank]

I'd tell you to use a light L.

 

[teechar]

I'd tell you to use a light L.

Even for "filling" and "spelling"?

 

[jutfrank]

Even for "filling" and "spelling"?

Yes, light L for those. With "fill" and "spell" I'd tell learners to use a dark L.

What do you advise your learners, teechar? Do you think I've got it wrong?

 

[teechar]

What do you advise your learners, teechar? Do you think I've got it wrong?

I'd advise pronouncing fill, filling, spell, and spelling all with a dark L.

 

[Tarheel]

Doesn't "filling" have both pronunciations?