Lingual configuration of Australian English /l/

English /l/ is a multi-gestural segment produced with dorsal retraction and lowering and a central alveolar closure. The coordination of antagonistic coronal and dorsal gestures prototypically results in lingual elongation. Although intergestural coordination in laterals has been widely studied, less is known about articulatory configuration in Australian English /l/ —a dialect characterised by coda /l/-lenition. We explored tongue elongation as a potential metric of /l/-lenition. The timecourse of lingual elongation was examined in laterals produced by two Australian English speakers using electromagnetic articulography. Tongue elongation was greater in onsets and codas containing laterals compared to onsets and codas containing /d/. Coda laterals showed less elongation than onset laterals. Quantifying lingual elongation can potentially differentiate onset /l/ from lenited or vocalised /l/ across a variety of vocalic and consonantal contexts by capturing a key characteristic of /l/ in environments where coronal and dorsal gestures are often unmeasurable.