# Silent 'l' in 'folk' and 'yolk'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 2, 2006, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198 "2006-06-02T20:59:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/1 "2006-06-02T20:59:38Z")
For all my life, I swear that I’ve heard the ‘l’ pronounced in the words ‘folk’ and ‘yolk’. A friend of mine just recently disagreed with me, and the dictionary proved her right. Could it be a regional thing (I was raised most of my life in the DC/MD area), or am I just plain wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/2 "2006-06-02T21:05:19Z")
I hear people do it all the time and it perplexes me. I assume it’s out of ignorance (like pronouncing the “t” in “often”) … and I secretly suspect people who do it think that it’s more proper than leaving it silent. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/3 "2006-06-02T21:06:21Z")
I’ve never heard anyone pronounce the “L” in these words, to the best of my recollection. I’ve lived in the Northeast, West Coast and currently the Southeast US. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/4 "2006-06-02T21:08:48Z")
There are regional accents that elide it – not /folk/ but /fo[sup]l[/sup]k/ I grew up where the white liquid substance derived from cows was /me[sup]l[/sup]k/, pronounced almost as the first syllable in mechanism, but with a hint of an L present. While that area had a clear /l/ in “yolk,” hearing it pronounced as a homonym to yoke was not uncommon. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/5 "2006-06-02T21:11:07Z")
I’ve never heard it, and I’ve lived in Ohio and NYC. Just curious: do these people also pronounce the “l” in “walk” or “talk”? ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/6 "2006-06-02T21:11:22Z")
😕 I’ve always pronounced the L. I’ve lived in Oklahoma all my life. This is the first time I’ve heard or read that the L’s were silent. So you’re saying I should pronounce them “Foke” and “Yoke”? That sounds more hick than my accent. Oh, and I know the “t” in often is silent. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/7 "2006-06-02T21:13:25Z")
😕😕 I’ve always pronounced the l in both of those words. Yolk is not a homonym for yoke, at least not in these parts. We listen to folk music, not foke music. Maybe it’s because my fokes are from the South and MidWest… ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/8 "2006-06-02T21:17:08Z")
> [@LorieSmurf](#): > > So you’re saying I should pronounce them “Foke” and “Yoke”? That sounds more hick than my accent. Yes. The pronunciation guides for [yolk](http://www.answers.com/yolk&r=67) and [folk](http://www.answers.com/folk&r=67) don’t even give an option otherwise. It’s always yōk and fōk. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/9 "2006-06-02T21:25:17Z")
> [@LorieSmurf](#): > > 😕 > > I’ve always pronounced the L. I’ve lived in Oklahoma all my life. This is the first time I’ve heard or read that the L’s were silent. > > So you’re saying I should pronounce them “Foke” and “Yoke”? That sounds more hick than my accent. Are you saying that you’re worried you’ll sound like a yokel? 🙂 I hear more of an “l” in folk than I do in yolk, especially when in a term like folk music. The latter is a homonym with yoke. Lifelong northeasterner. ---
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/10 "2006-06-02T21:28:59Z")
Born and bred in New England. I’ve got yolk and yoke, folk and foke as homophones. Actually, I think I pronounce the latters with vowels a bit tenser. ---
**Author:** ![jakeline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@jakeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jakeline)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/11 "2006-06-02T21:53:19Z")
> [@Ellen Cherry](#): > > I hear people do it all the time and it perplexes me. I assume it’s out of ignorance (like pronouncing the “t” in “often”) … and I secretly suspect people who do it think that it’s more proper than leaving it silent. Slight hijack: Merriam Webster [disagrees](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/often) with you that the “t” must be silent in “often.” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/12 "2006-06-02T22:24:45Z")
Count me in as someone who always heard the L in both words, along with the T in “often”, among my peers growing up. My emotional (and largely incorrect) assumption when I hear people that don’t use the L or the T is that they must be ignorant. Dialects vary, standards vary, and people should accept that. ---
**Author:** ![Capa84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8edcca/32.png) [@Capa84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capa84)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/13 "2006-06-02T22:47:46Z")
I don’t pronounce the L in yoLk, but I don’t pronounce it ‘yoke’, either. It’s kinda like the 'l" is 1/2 the way in there. I hear the difference in others too. I was born in KY, grew up in SE IN, and am now in NE FL. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/14 "2006-06-02T22:57:06Z")
I and everyone in my family (and most of the people I know) have always pronounced the Ls in folk and yolk. It’s a fully-developed L for my family’s dialect, and various ranges of elision for the rest of 'em, but it’s almost always there. I tend to think of foke and yoke as hickish, as in > [@The Simpson's](#): > > Some folk’ll never eat a skunk, > but then again some folk’ll > like Cletus the slack-jawed yokel! So, if the dictionary’s trying to be descriptive, then it’s failing. I can’t imagine that I live in the only pocket of L-speakers in the English-speaking world. ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/15 "2006-06-02T22:58:08Z")
From Houston, another pronouncer and hearer of the "L"s in those words. Yoke and yolk don’t rhyme, dammit! There’s a dark L (like in the Slavic languages) after the “o”. One of the executives at my company is from somewhere in the deep south, with a very upper-class southern accent, and he says “fokes” and “yoke”, and it’s _very_ noticeable and almost jarring when one is used to everybody pronouncing those words with the “L”. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/16 "2006-06-02T22:58:15Z")
> [@Bambi Hassenpfeffer](#): > > **The Simpson’s** Of course, I can’t form a decent plural, so maybe I’m not one to have an opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/17 "2006-06-02T22:59:03Z")
This side the pond, yolk rhymes with yoke and folk rhymes with yolk. As for “often”, it’s almost invariably pronounced with the “t”, but 'twasn’t ever thus; there’s a gag in _The Pirates of Penzance_ between the Major-General and the Pirate King which relies on this… > [@W S Gilbert](#): > > MJ: Tell me, have you ever known what it is to be an orphan? > Pirates: Here we are again! _/They are notorious for their tenderness towards orphans/_ > MJ: I say again, have you ever known what it is to be an orphan? > PK: Often! > MJ: …Yes. Have you ever known what it is to be one? > PK: I say often! > Pirates: Often, often, often! > MJ: I don’t think we quite understand one another. I ask you if you have ever known what it is to be an orphan, and you reply “Orphan!”. As I understand it, you are merely repeating the word “orphan” to show that you understand me. > PK: I didn’t repeat the word often! > MJ: Pardon me, but you did. > PK: No, I only said it once. > MJ: Ah, but you repeated it! > PK: (crossly) But not often!! > MJ: Stop! I think I see where we’re getting confused. When you say “orphan”, do you mean "a person who has lorst his parents, or do you mean “often” - “frequently”? > PK: Ah, I see what you mean - “Frequently”. > MJ: So you said “often” - “Frequently”. > PK: No, only once! > MJ: Exactly - you said “often” - “Frequently” - only once! ---
**Author:** ![ombre3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@ombre3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ombre3)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/18 "2006-06-02T23:51:23Z")
Of course there is a hint of an 'L" in both folk and yolk----------at least for those of us who don’t want to consciously say “bad things” —or be unclear as to meaning. Take away the slight “L” from folk and it can be a little disturbing to some listeners ----“You got any folk?”—might get a slap in the face. –Take away the slight “L” from yolk and you are dealing with how we tend to treat some animals. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/19 "2006-06-03T00:56:45Z")
I’m from SE Michigan, and I’ve always heard folk as **fo[sup]l[/sup]k.** Yolk as **yoke**. Talk as **tawk**. walk as **wauk** (but sometimes… just sometimes, I swear can hear the “l” coming through.) The only one that always sounds horrible to my ears is **balk**. When I say it correctly, I feel like I’m imitating a chicken. So I usually avoid the word altogether. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198/20 "2006-06-03T01:00:58Z")
> [@Capa84](#): > > I was born in KY . . . Must have been a real easy delivery. Sorry. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-l-in-folk-and-yolk/359198.md?page=2)