Questions tagged [semivowels]

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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.
fruitcheesy's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
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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 ...
Quinali Solaji's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
636 views

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 ...
Quinali Solaji's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
3k views

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" ...
Wesley Inselman's user avatar
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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.
Mahesh Sundaram's user avatar
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2 answers
148 views

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 ...
Masimatutu's user avatar
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69 views

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 ...
that touhou nerd's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
1k views

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]?
LinguisticsFanatic's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
248 views

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.
LinguisticsFanatic's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
171 views

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 ...
Jackson Wilson's user avatar
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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 ...
Tim Pederick's user avatar
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192 views

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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3 answers
1k views

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?
Anton Sherwood's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
1k views

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 ...
PCH's user avatar
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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.
Number File's user avatar
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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 ...
GJC's user avatar
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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 ...
Alan Evangelista's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
558 views

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 ...
Denis Nardin's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
411 views

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 ...
Pat Muchmore's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
1k views

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 ...
N.D.H.'s user avatar
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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 ...
Jameson's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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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/?
dbrowned's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
920 views

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, ...
Owen_AR's user avatar
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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 ...
Olive's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
591 views

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 ...
Carinus's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
313 views

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 /...
hippietrail's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
3k views

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 "...
Joe Pineda's user avatar
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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, ...
Rameshwar.S.Soni's user avatar
12 votes
5 answers
15k views

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 ...
magnetar's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
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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 ...
hippietrail's user avatar
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11 votes
4 answers
3k views

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?
hippietrail's user avatar
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