Semivowel facts for kids

Semivowels are special sounds that are a bit like consonants and a bit like vowels. They are also called glides because your tongue "glides" into or out of a vowel sound when you say them. Imagine saying "we" – your mouth starts in a "w" position and then quickly moves to the "ee" vowel sound.

Semivowels are different from regular consonants because air flows freely when you make their sound, just like with vowels. But they are different from vowels because they don't form the main part of a syllable. For example, in the word "yes," the "y" sound is a semivowel, and the "e" is the main vowel.

Semivowels in English

In the English language, the most common semivowels are the sounds you hear at the beginning of words like "water" and "yellow."

• The sound for "w" is written as /w/ in the IPA.
• The sound for "y" is written as /j/ in the IPA.

These sounds are often found next to vowels. For example, in "queen," the "qu" makes a /kw/ sound, where /w/ is a semivowel. In "beautiful," the "eau" can include a /j/ sound.

Semivowels in Latin

In Latin, an ancient language, semivowels were also important sounds, even though they didn't have their own special letters.

• The letter V was used for both the vowel sound /u/ (like in "moon") and the semivowel sound /w/ (like in "water").
• The letter I was used for both the vowel sound /i/ (like in "machine") and the semivowel sound /j/ (like in "yes").

This meant that the same letter could represent two different sounds depending on the word. For example:

• The famous Roman leader Gaius Julius Caesar was written as Gaivs Ivlivs Caesar. Here, the 'V' in Gaivs and Ivlivs was pronounced like a 'w', and the 'I' in Ivlivs was pronounced like a 'j'.
• The Latin word for wine, vinum, was pronounced with a /w/ sound at the beginning, like "win-um."

How the Letter J Was Added

After the fall of the Roman Empire, people started to want a clearer way to write the semivowel /j/ sound. So, the letter J was created. This new letter helped show the difference between the vowel sound /i/ and the semivowel sound /j/. This change made reading and writing Latin-based languages a bit easier!

See also

• In Spanish: Vocoide no silábico para niños