# Do you pronounce the L in calm, palm, etc...? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 28, 2026, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625 "2026-08-28T10:18:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/21 "2026-08-28T15:28:23Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > My MiL pronounces the L in “salmon”. I don’t pronounce it in “salmon”, but I do in “salmonella”! Figure that one out! ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/22 "2026-08-28T16:22:36Z")
The “L” _is_ pronounced in “Salmon” when it’s used as a given name, as in Salmon P. Chase. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/23 "2026-08-28T16:24:19Z")
Yes, and I also pronounce the “L” in “Salmon”. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/24 "2026-08-28T17:04:10Z")
I’m a non-native speaker, so I’m not sure the OP would be interested in my vote, but I voted no (so, fourth option). But that’s because in Europe, British RP is generally taught as the paradigm for the pronunciation in ESL classes, and that would have the L silent. Also, my British gf keeps correcting my English. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/25 "2026-08-28T18:49:33Z")
> [@ricepad](#): > > I don’t pronounce it in “salmon”, but I do in “salmonella”! Figure that one out! It is not silent in Latin. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/26 "2026-08-28T18:52:25Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Dictionaries say the L is not pronounced, both in the US and UK. The online Oxford English Dictionary shows an L in the US pronunciation of “balm”, “calm”, and “palm”, but not in “folk” or “stalk”. That matches my pronunciation as someone raised in Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/27 "2026-08-28T18:59:03Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Oxford English Dictionary What’s up with their pronunciations? The written pronunciation guide for American English does show L, but when I play it, all I hear is “con.” Is there a quality control issue in the sound files? [Here’s the page for calm](https://www.oed.com/dictionary/calm_adj?tab=factsheet#10305324), which includes the pronunciations. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/28 "2026-08-28T20:48:00Z")
They transcribe the pronunciation with the L in parentheses. Their pronunciation key says > - Round brackets **( )** in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional. So they’re saying that the L is sometimes pronounced and sometimes not. I guess the recorded pronunciation omits the L. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/29 "2026-08-28T21:54:10Z")
I’m Canadian and I don’t pronounce the “L” when I speak naturally, but I may pronounce the “L” if I slow down and speak with emphasis or need to elocute what I’m saying (as an analogy: I pronounce the name of the city I grew up in a as “Taronno” when I speak naturally, as per the stereotype, but will say “ToronTo” if the person I’m speaking to, e.g. if I tell an ESL student where I’m from). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/30 "2026-08-28T22:14:58Z")
- **Yes** in the -ALM words. - **Yes** in FOLK. - **No** in TALK - **Never** in STALK Bonus: - **Yes** in WOLF. - **No** in HALF - **Yes** in ALMOND - **No** in SOLDER   - **No** in SALMON - **Yes** in SALMONELLA ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/31 "2026-08-28T23:07:29Z")
> [@Rick Aschmann](#): > > I only discovered in 2011 that many if not most Americans pronounce the “l” in words like “calm” and other words ending in “-alm”, which surprised me very much, since I don’t. Poor Rick. Will this be the final straw convincing him to move abroad? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/32 "2026-08-28T23:31:21Z")
My tongue touches the roof of my mouth when pronouncing “calm” or “palm” or “balm,” in the way it does not when I say “com” or “pom” or “bomb.” ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/33 "2026-08-29T00:44:09Z")
For the record, I have a dark l in palm, calm, psalm, alms, but not in stalk, or talk. The vowels are also different. I grew up in Philly. One thing worth noting is that there are two quite different l’s in English. One is the so-called bilateral l (the first letter of lateral) and the dark l (the last letter of lateral). It is the latter which may appear in calm and palm. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/34 "2026-08-29T01:09:59Z")
Aha! You’re right; it’s the dark L that I’m saying. And I’m definitely saying it. I’m even saying it in folk; though salmon turns into sammon. It’s the bilateral L that I say in salmonella, though. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/35 "2026-08-29T14:23:48Z")
This seems to me to be related–or at least adjacent to–the cot/caught merger, no? Like a few folks (with an L!) above, I heard someone talk about grilled sall-mon the other day and I had to fight not to wince. Salmonella is indeed different, has the “L” audible. My great-grandfather was Theobald Smith, who worked with Salmon, and he actually discovered the bacterium, but his supervisor took the naming credit. See [Theobald Smith ·](https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/parasitic-diseases-with-econom/item/8205) for verification; I grew up thinking this was just a family story, but this page supports it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/36 "2026-08-29T14:37:26Z")
Prettt much exactly me. I have shifted the “l” away from “folk” to “foke” over the years because I saw somewhere that it’s not supposed to be pronounced. But I will say the “l” in “polka” and “Polk.” (Possibly influenced by my Polish upbringing where “l” is definitely pronounced in “polka.”) The only other one is “salmonella” I’ll vacillate between pronouncing the “l” and not, possibly influenced by an old gradeschool joke involving Sammy Davis Jr and Ella Fitzgerald forming a duo called “Sam and Ella.” Never an “L” in “salmon.” Oh, wait. I guess “solder” I go between “sawlder” and “sodder,” with the first one being the one I most often used until changing it in adulthood. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/37 "2026-08-29T15:19:46Z")
IMO @Hari_Seldon nailed it. There are two distinct “L” sounds in US English and the cite the OP found that triggered this thread was written by somebody ignorant of that fact. So that article is based on a false dichotomy: Pronounced L / Silent L. When it’s really a three-way choice: Bilateral L / Dark L / silent L. I don’t know how much the two-Ls feature generalizes to other English dialects around the world. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/38 "2026-08-29T15:28:23Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a dialect where it’s not pronounced. But it’s not the same pronunciation as L usually has. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/39 "2026-08-29T22:29:39Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > When it’s really a three-way choice: Bilateral L / Dark L / silent L. Not really. English does have two L sounds but generally you cannot freely choose which one to use in a given word. The dark (velarized) L occurs after a vowel or before a consonant, and the light L occurs before a vowel. Once you choose to pronounce an L, the position of the L in the word determines which one you will use. The L discussed in this thread, which occurs before a consonant like M (calm, palm, salmon, etc) or K (folk, stalk, etc) is always dark. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625/40 "2026-08-30T00:44:04Z")
I voted “sometimes” because I’m somewhere between a solid “-alm” and a soft “-ahm.” I call words like that schwa consonants. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-l-in-calm-palm-etc/1032625.md?page=3)