L Vocalisation ( milk [miuk]) originated in London a century ago and contributes to the
linguistic phenomenon of Dialect Levelling. This study investigates L Vocalisation in the
speech of the middle classes and reveals its widespread acceptance. The social factors Age and
Gender are significant: young male adults are in the lead. L Vocalisation prevails in the
speech of people in the South of England with regional links to urban areas. Back vowels
encourage this process whilst front vowels still hinder it. Thus bulb is more likely to be
pronounced as [bAub] than silk as [siuk]. Comparably R Dropping began in the Early Modern
English period and has led to non-rhotic varieties of English. Since both r and l are weak
consonants their progressive weakening in the coda position is only to be expected.
