Abstract: Objective To explore the clinical characteristics and rehabilitation training of abnormal lateral consonant, namely /l/, of patients with functional articulation disorders (FAD). Methods 107 patients with FAD were observed of the clinical characteristics of /l/. 30 patients with /l/ articulation disorder accepted speech training. The correlation and simple linear regression analysis were carried out on /l/ articulation disorders and age. Results The articulation disorder of /l/ mainly showed replacement for /n/, /y/, /r/, /d/ or omission. When /l/ combined with vowels contained /i/ and /ü/, the main error was omission. When /l/ combined with vowels contained /a/, /o/, /e/ or /u/, the errors trended to be replacement rather than omission. After speech training, the patients made less mistakes about /l/ (P<0.001). The frequency of /l/ articulation disorders was negatively correlated with age (r=-0.840). The result of simple linear regression analysis showed that the determination coefficient was 0.422. Conclusion The /l/ articulation disorder mainly shows replacement or omission, varied with the vowels. The targeted rehabilitation training may be helpful. Age plays an important role in the outcome of /l/ articulation disorder.

Key words: functional articulation disorders, lateral consonant, clinical characteristics, rehabilitation training