Ahí y Allí

Question

I wonder if there is a discussion of the pronunciation of these two words. Depending on the speaker, they sound the same to me. I have noticed in some accents in the north, there's a slight "l" sound in the ll, and even my late great uncle (from the north of Spain) had explained to me that this is a thing, but also he explained this to me a long, long ago and I just want to know if I'm hearing things correctly or if my brain's making it up. ¡Gracias!

Answer

Hola Katie,
yes, you are hearing things correctly. The sound of the letter ll varies a bit depending on the area. I would say, the sound you will probably hear the most is that of the y; so allí is pronounced "a -yí". This is called "yeísmo". 
But the letter ll takes slightly different prononciations. Here is a video where a lady explains the different sounds of the word "pollo". You will probably find your great uncle's version there.
I hope this helps.
Saludos
Inma

Answer

I was curious too. I guess the difference is perhaps similar to "yeast" vs. "east" in English.