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Approximants arespeech sounds that involve thearticulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough,[1] nor with enough articulatory precision,[2] to createturbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall betweenfricatives, which produce a turbulent airstream, andvowels, which produce no turbulence.[3] This class is composed of sounds like[ɹ] (as inrest) andsemivowels like[j] and[w] (as inyes andwest, respectively), as well aslateral approximants like[l] (as inless).[4]
BeforePeter Ladefoged coined the termapproximant in the 1960s,[5] the termsfrictionless continuant andsemivowel were used to refer to non-lateral approximants.
Inphonology,approximant is also adistinctive feature that encompasses allsonorants exceptnasals, includingvowels,taps, andtrills.[6]
Some approximants resemble vowels in acoustic and articulatory properties and the termssemivowel andglide are often used for these non-syllabic vowel-like segments. The correlation between semivowels and vowels is strong enough that cross-language differences between semivowels correspond with the differences between their related vowels.[7]
Vowels and their corresponding semivowels alternate in many languages depending on the phonological environment, or for grammatical reasons, as is the case withIndo-European ablaut. Similarly, languages often avoid configurations where a semivowel precedes its corresponding vowel.[8] A number of phoneticians distinguish between semivowels and approximants by their location in a syllable. Although he uses the terms interchangeably,Montreuil (2004:104) remarks that, for example, the final glides of Englishpar andbuy differ from Frenchpar ('through') andbaille ('tub') in that, in the latter pair, the approximants appear in thesyllable coda, whereas, in the former, they appear in thesyllable nucleus. This means that opaque (if not minimal) contrasts can occur in languages likeItalian (with the i-like sound ofpiede 'foot', appearing in the nucleus:[ˈpi̯ɛˑde], and that ofpiano 'plane', appearing in the syllable onset:[ˈpjaˑno])[9] and Spanish (with a near minimal pair beingabyecto[aβˈjekto] 'abject' andabierto[aˈβi̯erto] 'opened').[10]
| Vowel | Corresponding approximant | Place of articulation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| i | j** | Palatal | Spanishamplío ('I extend') vs.amplió ('he extended') |
| y | ɥ | Labialized palatal | Frenchaigu ('sharp') vs.aiguille ('needle') |
| ɯ | ɰ** | Velar | Korean음식 ('food') vs.의사 ('doctor') |
| u | w | Labialized velar | Spanishcontinúo ('I continue') vs.continuó ('he/she/it continued') and ('you continued') used only in the formal treatment ofusted. |
| ɑ | ʕ̞ | Pharyngeal | [example needed] |
| ɚ | ɻ | Postalveolar,retroflex* | North American Englishwaiter vs.waitress |
In articulation and often diachronically,palatal approximants correspond tofront vowels,velar approximants toback vowels, and labialized approximants torounded vowels. In American English, therhotic approximant corresponds to the rhotic vowel. This can create alternations (as shown in the above table).
In addition to alternations, glides can be inserted to the left or the right of their corresponding vowels when they occur next to a hiatus.[16] For example, inUkrainian, medial/i/ triggers the formation of an inserted[j] that acts as a syllable onset so that when the affix/-ist/ is added toфутбол ('football') to makeфутболіст 'football player', it is pronounced[futbo̞ˈlist], butмаоїст ('Maoist'), with the same affix, is pronounced[mao̞ˈjist] with a glide.[17]Dutch for many speakers has a similar process that extends to mid vowels:[18]
Similarly, vowels can be inserted next to their corresponding glide in certain phonetic environments.Sievers' law describes this behaviour forGermanic.
Non-high semivowels also occur. In colloquialNepali speech, a process ofglide-formation occurs, where one of two adjacent vowels becomes non-syllabic; the process includes mid vowels so that[dʱo̯a] ('cause to wish') features a non-syllabic mid vowel.[20] Spanish features a similar process and even nonsyllabic/a/ can occur so thatahorita ('right away') is pronounced[a̯o̞ˈɾita].[21] It is not often clear, however, whether such sequences involve a semivowel (a consonant) or a diphthong (a vowel), and in many cases, it may not be a meaningful distinction.
Although many languages havecentral vowels[ɨ,ʉ], which lie between back/velar[ɯ,u] and front/palatal[i,y], there are few cases of a corresponding approximant[ȷ̈]. One is in the Korean diphthong[ȷ̈i] or[ɨ̯i][22] though it is more frequently analyzed as velar (as in the table above), andMapudungun may be another, with three high vowel sounds,/i/,/u/,/ɨ/ and three corresponding consonants,/j/, and/w/, and a third one is often described as a non-labialized voiced velar fricative; some texts note a correspondence between this approximant and/ɨ/ that is parallel to/j/–/i/ and/w/–/u/. An example isliq/ˈliɣ/ ([ˈliɨ̯]?) ('white').[23]It has been noted that the expected symbols for the approximant correlates of[ɨ],[ʉ] are ⟨ɉ,ɥ̶⟩[24] or ⟨ɉ,w̶⟩.[25]
In addition to less turbulence, approximants also differ from fricatives in the precision required to produce them.[26] When emphasized, approximants may be slightly fricated (that is, the airstream may become slightly turbulent), which is reminiscent of fricatives. For example, theSpanish wordayuda ('help') features a palatal approximant that is pronounced as a fricative in emphatic speech.[27] Spanish can be analyzed as having a meaningful distinction between fricative, approximant, and intermediate/ʝʝ˕j/.[28] However, such frication is generally slight and intermittent, unlike the strong turbulence of fricative consonants.
For places of articulation further back in the mouth, languages do not contrast voiced fricatives and approximants. Therefore, the IPA allows the symbols for the voiced fricatives to double for the approximants, with or without a loweringdiacritic.[citation needed]
Occasionally, the glottal "fricatives" are called approximants, since[h] typically has no more frication than voiceless approximants, but they are oftenphonations of the glottis without any accompanying manner or place of articulation.
Approximants with a dedicated IPA symbol are in bold. Letters shown with thelowered diacritic ⟨˕⟩ are often transcribed without it; the diacritic is used here to distinguish from their fricative counterparts.
Glottal approximants may be best described as placeless with only laryngeal specification, as they take on the shapes of surrounding sounds in their articulation.[30]
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, allowing free passage of air.
There was once some controversy over whether a voiceless approximants could be distinct from africative,[31] but recent research distinguishes between "turbulent" and "laminar" airflow in the vocal tract.[32] Ball & Rahilly (1999) state that "the airflow for voiced approximants remains laminar (smooth), and does not become turbulent".[33]
Fricative consonants are generally said to be the result of turbulent airflow at a place of articulation in the vocal tract.[34] However, an audible voiceless sound may be made without this turbulent airflow:Pike (1943) makes a distinction between "local friction" (as in[s] or[z]) and "cavity friction" (as in voiceless vowels like[ḁ] and[ɔ̥]).[35] More recent research distinguishes between "turbulent" and "laminar" airflow in the vocal tract.[36] It is not clear if it is possible to describe voiceless approximants categorically as having laminar airflow (or cavity friction in Pike's terms) as a way of distinguishing them from fricatives.Ball & Rahilly (1999) write that "the airflow for voiced approximants remains laminar (smooth), and does not become turbulent. Voiceless approximants are rare in the languages of the world, but when they do occur the airflow is usually somewhat turbulent."[37] Audible voiceless sounds may also be produced by means of turbulent airflow at the glottis, as in[h]; in such a case, it is possible to articulate an audible voiceless sound without the production of local friction at a supraglottal constriction.Catford (1977) describes such sounds, but classes them assonorants.[38]
Voiceless approximants are rarely if ever distinguished phonemically from voiceless fricatives in the sound system of a language.Clark & Yallop (1995) discuss the issue and conclude "In practice, it is difficult to distinguish between a voiceless approximant and a voiceless fricative at the same place of articulation ... there is no evidence that any language in the world makes such a distinction crucial."[39]
Voiceless approximants are treated as a phonetic category by (among others)Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996),Catford (1977), andBickford & Floyd (2006). However, the termvoiceless approximant is seen by some phoneticians as controversial. It has been pointed out that ifapproximant is defined as a speech sound that involves the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough to create turbulent airflow, then it is difficult to see how avoiceless approximant could be audible.[40] AsJohn C. Wells puts it in his blog, "voiceless approximants are by definition inaudible ... If there's no friction and no voicing, there's nothing to hear."[41] A similar point is made in relation to frictionless continuants byO'Connor (1973): "There are no voiceless frictionless continuants because this would imply silence; the voiceless counterpart of the frictionless continuant is the voiceless fricative."[42]Ohala & Solé (2010) argue that the increased airflow arising from voicelessness alone makes a voiceless continuant a fricative, even if lacking a greater constriction in the oral cavity than a voiced approximant.[43]
Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996) argue thatBurmese andStandard Tibetan have voiceless lateral approximants[l̥] andNavajo andZulu voiceless lateral fricatives[ɬ], but also say that "in other cases it is difficult to decide whether a voiceless lateral should be described as an approximant or a fricative".[44]Asu, Nolan & Schötz (2015) compared voiceless laterals inEstonian Swedish,Icelandic, andWelsh and found that Welsh-speakers consistently used[ɬ], that Icelandic-speakers consistently used[l̥], and that speakers of Estonian Swedish varied in their pronunciation. They conclude that there is "a range of variants within voiceless laterals, rather than a categorical split between lateral fricatives and voiceless approximant laterals".[45]
Voiceless lateral approximants can occur after voiceless stops asallophone of its voiced counterpart, especially after thevoiceless velar plosive/k/, inWestern American English.[46]
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