Modifier Letter Small L

It marks how a stop is released. In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), ˡ follows a stop consonant, such as t or d, when air flows along the side of the tongue into a following lateral sound, usually l. A stop is made by briefly blocking airflow; a lateral sound lets air pass along the tongue’s side. In tˡl, ˡ marks the transition and does not replace the following l.

Where did superscript l come from?

It belongs to a phonetic alphabet that developed over time. The International Phonetic Association formed in Paris in 1886, and its first alphabet appeared in the pronunciation-teaching journal The Phonetic Teacher in 1888. The system gave language teachers a consistent way to write pronunciations.

Unicode lists this modifier among additions based on the IPA revision of 1989. That marks its encoding history, not the beginning of the older phonetic system.

Why does ˡ look like a tiny raised l?

It is a character, not a formatting effect. A spacing modifier is a character in its own right, not a combining mark or an instruction to raise an ordinary l.

Fonts draw ˡ raised, so its proportions can vary. Styling a regular l as superscript may look similar, but it does not produce this same character.