Questions tagged [semivowels]
The semivowels tag has no usage guidance.
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Why does PIE *sneygʷʰ- ("snow") give L. nix, Gk. νίφα (acc.)?
What happens to internal /e/ and semivowel /y/ in *snéygʷʰm̥ to yield L. nix? I have no clue how that vowel change works.
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Is ʕ̞ equivalent to the semivowel articulation of ɑ?
Wikipedia claims that Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996) p. 323 states that ʕ̞ is equivalent to the semivowel articulation of ɑ.
Is this true?
If so, why?
If not, what is the false premise behind this ...
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Do the qualities of a vowel determine its semivowel’s place of articulation?
[j] (the semivowel of [i]) is palatal.
[w] (the semivowel of [u]) is labial–velar.
[ɥ] (the semivowel of [y]) is labio-palatal.
Does the position of the vowel in the mouth play a part in determining ...
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Why isn't the American r considered a vowel?
As a native American English speaker from the Northwest, whenever I isolate the r in words like "right" or "rope" it's always /ɚ/, the same as the r in words like "first" ...
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Could the Midwestern (Wisconsin) L sound be described as a semivowel/glide?
In Midwestern accents, words like "love" (with the L in word initial) the L sounds close to the /j/ glide, but I wonder if anyone has noticed this or come across it.
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Is it useful to render French /i y u/ and /j ɥ w/ as allophones?
Because /i y u/ behave so differently to the other French vowels /ɛ ɑ œ ɔ/, which all have tense and nasal variants, while also being symmetrical to the semivowels /j ɥ w/, it is attractive to render ...
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I have been reconstructing Austro-Thai but the vowels are inconsistent
I have been reconstructing Austro-Thai believing it to be a rather easy undertaking and it mostly was, the consonants between the two language families line up rather well only with occasional ...
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What is the difference between [j w] and [i̯ u̯]?
The symbols [i̯] and [u̯] always confused me, like what makes them different from [j] and [w]?
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Are there any languages without Semivowels?
Semivowels seem to be pretty common around the world's languages, I wonder if there are languages which don't have them.
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Is there any real phonemic distinction between semivowels and their vocalic counterparts?
So my understanding is that semivowels are phonetically identical (or nearly identical) to their vocalic equivalents, and that the distinction between the two is primarily based on how they behave ...
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Do all semivowels have vowel equivalents, and vice versa?
I realise this is likely to be highly theoretical, as in “there could be such sounds but they aren’t phonemic in any language”. But I have a burning curiosity, and I’m hoping that there’s a concrete ...
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Epenthesis using SPE-notation
Suppose in some language the following happens:
when the stem ends in front vowels (i, e), then adding a certain suffix X requires j insertion (so it looks like [.. i j X] or [... e j X] instead of [....
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Does any living language contrast /kʷ/ and /kw/?
Does any living language contrast /kʷ/ and /kw/?
If yes, is there a way I can hear a minimal pair spoken?
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What is the difference between a glide and a semivowel?
Is the following distinction made by this university lesson between glides and semivowels standard?:
Glides include speech sounds where the airstream is frictionless and is modified by the position ...
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Voiced H as an approximant for schwa?
I had an idea for a voiced fricative being an approximant. I tried to say a voiced h and I noticed how similar it was to the schwa vowel. I just want to know if this is a possible approximant sound.
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pronunciation of [əj]
According to Wiedenhof's A Grammar of Mandarin, page 42,
The pronunciation of the final -ui [weı] vary with the accompanying
tone for some speakers. With first or second tone, the u sound tends
...
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Are semivowels pronounced differently than vowels?
A vowel is a sound generated by an open vocal tract, with vibration of the vocal cords and without friction. A consonant is every sound that is not a vowel. These two concepts are very simple and ...
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Is there any other language containing the sound of the "evanescent l" in Venetian?
Venetian (the Italo-Romance language spoken in the area of Italy roughly corresponding to the Veneto region) has a weird sound which is usually called l evanescente (evanescent l). It varies ...
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What is the nature of the distinction when a semivowel is surrounded by its corresponding vowel?
I've searched the site a bit for this topic, and I recognize that there's quite a bit of variability about the classification of phones like [w] and [j]. My primary understanding comes from Catford's ...
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What is the phonetic and phonemic destinction between a semivowel and a vowel?
I have read several articles that claim that phonemically, /j/ and /i/ are the same and distinguished from each other by being syllabic or not. What confuses me is that I can hear the difference ...
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What's up with the letter W?
English is an interesting and incestuous mangling of stuff. I sometimes think about W and it is a pretty interesting letter with much mystery and intrigue.
In French, oui begins with a W sound, yet ...
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Consonant symbol representation for /o̯/?
Specifically, what's the consonant symbol equivalent for the glide/semivowel /o̯/, like how /i̯/ is equivalent to /j/?
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Swahili stress with two vowels in a row, how does it work?
I'm uncertain how stress works with two vowels in a row,
so I used a regex to grab some words out of a small learner's-dictionary,
and then make the two possible stress-patterns after each entry,
...
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Can a vowel be a consonant?
So, I know there are certain consonants in the IPA that have vowel-like properties, and can therefor be used as vowels, such as [n], [m], and [l]. Examples include [pnt], or [ʒlf]. So, in the loosest ...
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Is there a vowel equivalent to the bilabial approximant?
/j/ is the semivocalic equivalent of /i/, /w/ of /u/, /ɥ/ of /y/, /ɰ/ of /ɯ/, and so forth, and I've also seen /ɹ/ described as the semivocalic equivalent of /ɚ/. Considering all of this, it seems ...
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Lao orthography: ວ as part of consonant cluster or part of diphtong and placement of tone marks
Lao is a little underdocumented compared to other languages, both in terms of actual linguistics and in terms of prescriptive norms.
There is a semivowel letter, ວ, which has a few roles:
Consonant /...
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How is Sanskrit "va" supposed to be pronounced?
I'm confused as to how I'm to pronounce Sanskrit's "v" letter. My teacher mostly pronounces it as a "w" in words such as "deva", "svara" or "dvipa" but invariably utters a "v" in syllables "vra" or "...
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Difference between production of vowels, diphthongs and semi-vowels
I am studying speech recognition by Lawrence Rabiner's book. I am unable to find a proper and easy to understand answer for the following question :
Difference between production of vowels, ...
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What is the difference between a diphthong and a glide?
It's easy for me to imagine the difference, but hard for me to conceptualize it. I guess one involves two vowels and the other involves a consonant, right? Am I on the right track, or is there a more ...
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What's going on when I hear people pronounce Georgian "ვ" like "w" instead of like "v" as it always seems to be defined?
The sixth letter of the Georgian alphabet is ვ and all the resources I have describe it as being like English v or IPA [v].
But especially in the common word ნახვამდის (goodbye) the ვ sounds a lot ...
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Are there semivowels besides /w/ and /j/ and which are most common?
In the languages I'm familiar with I can't think of any cases of semivowels other than the "w" and "y" sounds /w/ and /j/. So are there any others and if so, which are most common beyond these two?