FromLatinapproximāns. In the phonetics sense first used byPeter Ladefoged,[1] the mathematical concept is attributed toPaul Halmos.[2]
approximant (pluralapproximants)
- (phonetics) Aconsonantsound made by slightly narrowing thevocal tract, while still allowing a smooth flow of air.Liquids andglides are approximants.
- Hypernyms:sonorant,resonant
- Hyponyms:liquid,glide,semivowel
- Coordinate terms:fricative,lateral,nasal,trill,plosive
- (mathematics) Anapproximation to the solution of a function, series, etc.
- Coordinate terms:approximand,approximate,approximation
consonant made by slightly narrowing the vocal tract
- ^Peter Ladefoged (1964)A Phonetic Study of West African Languages, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,page25: “The termapproximant is used here to describe a sound which belongs to the phonetic class vocoid or central resonant oral (Pike, 1943), and simultaneously to the phonological class consonant in that it occurs in the same phonotactic patterns as stops, fricatives and nasals.”
- ^Philip J. Maher (2017)Operator Approximant Problems Arising from Quantum Theory,→ISBN,page 1: “The key concept of this book is that of an approximant (the characteristically snappy term is due to Halmos [21])”
approximant
- presentparticiple ofapproximer
approximant
- third-personpluralpresentactiveindicative ofapproximō
approximant on Wikipedia.Wikipedia