SEMI-VOWELS

KING SOLOMON F. CATRAL Instructor

Semivowels (also glides, more rarely: semiconsonants) are non-syllabic vowels that form diphthongs with syllabic vowels. They may be contrasted with approximants, which are similar to but closer than vowels or semivowels and behave as consonants. Semivowels are normally written by adding the IPA non-syllabicity mark [ ] to a vowel symbol, but often for simplicity the vowel symbol alone is written.

Kinds of Semi-Vowel
This sound is produced by articulating a very close unrounded front "vowel" (a close [i]), but without vibration of the vocal cords. The corresponding consonant is the voiceless palatal fricative (hisser).

This sound is also produced by articulating a very close unrounded front "vowel" (a close [i]), but the realization is extremely brief. The corresponding consonant is the voiced palatal fricative (hisser).

This sound is produced by articulating a very close rounded back "vowel" (a close [u]), but without vibration of the vocal cords.

This sound is also produced by articulating a very close rounded back "vowel" (a close [u]), but the realization is extremely brief.
This sound is produced by articulating a very close rounded front "vowel" (a close [y]), but the articulation is extremely brief.