Approximant facts for kids
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Approximants are special speech sounds. They are made when parts of your mouth, like your tongue or lips, get close to each other. But they don't get close enough to block the air completely or make a noisy, turbulent sound. Think of them as being in between fricatives (which make a noisy airflow, like 's' or 'f') and vowels (which have very smooth airflow, like 'a' or 'e').
Some common approximants you might know are the 'r' sound in rest ([ɹ]), the 'y' sound in yes ([j]), and the 'w' sound in west ([w]). The 'l' sound in less ([l]) is also an approximant, called a lateral approximant.
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What They Are Called
Before the 1960s, a linguist named Peter Ladefoged came up with the name "approximant." Before that, people used terms like "frictionless continuant" or "semivowel" for some of these sounds.
In the study of how sounds work in languages (phonology), "approximant" can also describe a wider group of sounds. This group includes all sonorants (sounds made with continuous airflow) except for nasal sounds (like 'm' or 'n'). This means vowels, taps (like the 'tt' in American English butter), and trills (like a rolled 'r') can also be seen as approximants in this broader sense.
Semivowels: Vowel-Like Sounds
Some approximants sound and feel very much like vowels. These are often called semivowels or glides. They are like vowels but cannot form the main part of a syllable on their own.
It's interesting how semivowels and their matching vowels often switch places in languages. This can happen based on how words are put together or for grammar reasons. For example, in many languages, you won't find a semivowel right before its matching vowel.
Here are some examples of how vowels and their matching approximants are related:
| Vowel | Matching Approximant |
Where it's made | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| i (like ee in see) | j (like y in yes) | Palate (roof of mouth) | Spanish amplío (I extend) vs. amplió (he extended) |
| u (like oo in moon) | w (like w in we) | Lips and soft palate | Spanish continúo (I continue) vs. continuó (he continued) |
| ɑ (like a in father) | ʕ̞ | Pharynx (back of throat) | |
| ɚ (like er in bird) | ɻ | Behind the alveolar ridge, tongue curled back | North American English waiter vs. waitress |
In languages like Ukrainian and Dutch, a glide (semivowel) can sometimes appear when two vowels are next to each other. For example, in Ukrainian, the word for 'Maoist' (маоїст) is pronounced with a 'y' sound ([mao̞ˈjist]) inserted between the 'o' and 'i'.
Sometimes, it's hard to tell if a sound is a semivowel (a consonant) or part of a diphthong (a vowel sound that changes). In many cases, the difference might not even matter much.
Approximants vs. Fricatives
Approximants are different from fricatives in two main ways:
- Less Turbulence: Approximants have smooth airflow, while fricatives create noisy, turbulent airflow.
- Less Precision: To make an approximant, your mouth parts don't need to be as precise as they do for a fricative.
Sometimes, if you say an approximant very strongly, it might sound a little like a fricative. For example, the 'y' sound in the Spanish word ayuda ('help') can sometimes be pronounced with a slight friction. But this friction is usually very small and not like the strong noise of a true fricative.
For sounds made further back in the mouth, languages usually don't have separate voiced fricatives and approximants. So, the same symbol might be used for both.
Central Approximants
These approximants are made when the center of your tongue gets close to the roof of your mouth.
- bilabial approximant [β̞]: Made with both lips.
- labiodental approximant [ʋ]: Made with lips and teeth.
- dental approximant [ð̞]: Made with the tongue touching or near the teeth.
- alveolar approximant [ɹ]: Made with the tongue near the ridge behind your front teeth (like the 'r' in red).
- retroflex approximant [ɻ ]: Made with the tongue curled back (like some 'r' sounds).
- palatal approximant [j]: Made with the middle of the tongue near the hard palate (like the 'y' in yes).
- velar approximant [ɰ]: Made with the back of the tongue near the soft palate.
- uvular approximant [ʁ̞]: Made with the back of the tongue near the uvula (the little dangly thing at the back of your throat).
- pharyngeal approximant [ʕ̞]: Made by narrowing the throat.
- breathy-voiced glottal approximant [ɦ]: Made in the voice box with breathy voice.
- creaky-voiced glottal approximant [ʔ̞]: Made in the voice box with creaky voice.
Lateral Approximants
For lateral approximants, the middle of your tongue touches the roof of your mouth. But the sides of your tongue stay open, letting air flow freely past them.
- voiced alveolar lateral approximant [l]: Like the 'l' in light.
- retroflex lateral approximant [ɭ]: A lateral 'l' sound with the tongue curled back.
- voiced palatal lateral approximant [ʎ]: Like the 'll' in Spanish llama.
- velar lateral approximant [ʟ]: A lateral 'l' sound made with the back of the tongue.
- uvular lateral approximant [ʟ̠]: A lateral 'l' sound made with the uvula.
Special Approximants with Their Own Symbols
These are approximants made using two parts of the mouth at the same time.
- labialized velar approximant [w]: Made with lips rounded and the back of the tongue raised (like the 'w' in water).
- labialized palatal approximant [ɥ]: Made with lips rounded and the middle of the tongue raised (like the 'u' in French huit).
Nasalized Approximants
These are approximants where some air also comes out through your nose. Don't confuse them with nasal consonants like 'm' or 'n'.
Examples include:
- nasal palatal approximant [j̃]
- nasal labialized velar approximant [w̃]
- voiceless nasal glottal approximant [h̃]
In some languages, like Portuguese, nasalized glides (semivowels) historically changed into nasal consonants. For example, [j̃] became /ɲ/ (like 'ny' in canyon).
- Liquid consonant
- List of phonetics topics
- Semivowel
