Everything about Approximant Consonant totally explained
Approximants are speech sounds (
phonemes) that could be regarded as intermediate between
vowels and typical
consonants. In the articulation of approximants, articulatory organs produce a narrowing of the vocal tract, but leave enough space for air to flow without much audible turbulence. Approximants are therefore more open than
fricatives. This class of sounds includes
lateral approximants like [l], as in
lip, and approximants like [j] and [w] in
yes and
well which correspond closely to
vowels and
semivowels.
Corresponding vowels
Some approximants resemble vowels. The term
semivowel is often used for such segments. (Semivowels are non-syllabic vowel-like segments. While some phoneticians restrict the term to true non-syllabic vowels, which form
diphthongs, others include the subset of approximants that resemble vowels. The difference phonetically is that these approximants are closer than the corresponding non-syllabic vowels.)
In articulation and often diachronically,
palatal approximants correspond to
front vowels,
velar approximants to
back vowels, and labialized approximants to
rounded vowels. In American English, the
rhotic approximant corresponds to the rhotic vowel.
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Approximants versus fricatives
When emphasized, approximants may be slightly fricated (that is, the airstream may become slightly turbulent), which is reminiscent of fricatives. Examples are the
y of English
yes! (especially when lengthened) and the "weak"
allophones of
Spanish b, d, g, which are often transcribed as fricatives (often due perhaps to a lack of dedicated approximant symbols). However, such frication is generally slight and intermittent, unlike the strong turbulence of fricative consonants.
This confusion is also common with voiceless approximants, which necessarily have a certain amount of fricative-like noise. For example, the voiceless labialized velar approximant [ʍ] has traditionally been called a fricative, and no language is known to contrast it with a voiceless labialized velar fricative [xʷ].
Tibetan has a voiceless lateral approximant, [l̥], and
Welsh has a voiceless lateral fricative [ɬ], but the distinction isn't always clear from descriptions of these languages. Again, no language is known to contrast the two.
For places of articulation further back in the mouth, languages don't contrast voiced fricatives and approximants. Therefore the IPA allows the symbols for the voiced fricatives to double for the central approximants, with or without a lowering
diacritic.
Occasionally the glottal "fricatives" are called approximants, since [h] typically has no more frication than voiceless approximants, but they're often
phonations of the glottis without any accompanying manner or place of articulation.
Central approximants
Lateral approximants
In lateral approximants, the center of tongue makes solid contact with the roof of the mouth. However, the defining location is the side of the tongue, which only approaches the teeth.
voiced alveolar lateral approximant [l]
voiceless alveolar lateral approximant [l̥]
retroflex lateral approximant [ɭ]
palatal lateral approximant [ʎ]
velar lateral approximant [ʟ]
Coarticulated approximants with dedicated IPA symbols
voiced labialized velar approximant [w] (a consonantal [u])
voiceless labialized velar approximant [ʍ]
labialized palatal approximant [ɥ] (a consonantal [y])
velarized alveolar lateral approximant [ɫ]
A "central" approximant?
Although many languages have central vowels [ɨ,ʉ] which lie between back/velar [ɯ,u] and front/palatal [i,y], there are no confirmed reports of corresponding approximants. However, Mapudungun may be a possibility: It has three high vowel sounds, /i/, /u/, /ɨ/, written "i", "u", "ü", and three corresponding consonants, written "y", "w", "q". The first two are clearly /j/ and /w/. The "q" is often described as a voiced unrounded velar fricative, but some texts note a correspondence between "q" and /ɨ/ that's parallel to /j/-/i/ and /w/-/u/. An example is liq /'liɣ/ "white".
Further Information
Get more info on 'Approximant Consonant'.
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