History of Ll in Timeline

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Ll

Ll/ll is a digraph present in various languages. A digraph is a combination of two letters representing a single sound, often differing from the sounds of the individual letters. The specific sound represented by 'll' varies depending on the language. For instance, in Spanish, 'll' traditionally represents a palatal lateral approximant (similar to the 'lli' in 'million'), though pronunciation varies regionally, with many speakers using a 'y' sound. In Welsh, 'll' represents a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative, a sound not found in English.

1981: Asturian orthography published

In 1981, the Academy of the Asturian Language published the standard Asturian orthography, in which ⟨ll⟩ represents the phoneme /ʎ/.

2010: ⟨ll⟩ removed from Spanish alphabet

In 2010, the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language removed ⟨ll⟩ from the Spanish alphabet, where it had been considered a letter since 1754.

2020: Welsh Government commissions three fonts

In 2020, the Welsh Government commissioned three fonts that may include ligatures equivalent to the Middle Welsh ligature for ⟨ll⟩.