In British English the difference is clear, but do these words "cold" and "code" also sound different in American English? If so, how does one make /oʊ/ different from /oʊǀ/? Do the lips round more for /oʊǀ/?
Learn English – Pronunciation of “cold” and “code” in American English
american-englishpronunciation
Best Answer
To summarize the responses in the comments:
In many dialects, both British and US, [ɫ], the ‘dark’ post-vocalic variant of the phoneme /l/ is reduced.
These changes are not affected by a following consonant, so standard [kɔʊɫd] (cold) becomes [kɔʊːd]. The only difference between cold and code, then, is that the [ʊ] piece is slightly longer with cold.
Note, however, that these changes do not take place (at least in my dialect) when phonemic /l/ is followed by a vowel, as in calling. In this case, /l/ becomes the beginning of the following syllable; in that syllable-initial context it loses its ‘darkness’ and is pronounced as [l]: ['kɔ⋅lɪŋ]