Approximant consonant

Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and typical consonants. In the articulation of approximants, articulatory organs produce a narrowing of the vocal tract, but leave enough space for air to flow without much audible turbulence. Approximants are therefore more open than fricatives. This class of sounds includes lateral approximants like , as in lip, and approximants like and in yes and well which correspond closely to vowels and semivowels.

Corresponding vowels

Palatal approximants correspond to front vowels, velar approximants to back vowels, and labialized approximants to rounded vowels. They are typically briefer and closer than the corresponding vowels.

Approximants vs. fricatives

When emphasized, approximants may be slightly fricated (that is, the airstream may become slightly turbulent), which is reminiscent of fricatives. Examples are the y of English yes! (especially when lengthened) and the "weak" allophones of Spanish b, d, g, which are often transcribed as fricatives (often due perhaps to a lack of dedicated approximant symbols). However, such frication is generally slight and intermittant, unlike the strong turbulence of fricative consonants.

This confusion is also common with voiceless approximants, which necessarily have a certain amount of fricative-like noise. For example, the voiceless labialized velar approximant has traditionally been called a fricative. Tibetan has a voiceless lateral approximant, , and Welsh has a voiceless lateral fricative , but the distinction is not always clear from descriptions of these languages.

For places of articulation further back in the mouth, languages do not contrast voiced fricatives and approximants. Therefore the IPA allows the symbols for the voiced fricatives to double for the central approximants, with or without a lowering diacritic.

Occasionally the glottal "fricatives" are called approximants, since ^* typically has no more frication than voiceless approximants, but they are often phonations of the glottis without any accompanying manner or place of articulation.

Central approximants

bilabial approximant (usually written )
labiodental approximant
dental approximant (usually written )
alveolar approximant
postalveolar approximant
retroflex approximant (a consonantal )
palatal approximant (a consonantal )
velar approximant (a consonantal )
uvular approximant (usually written )
pharyngeal approximant (a consonantal ; usually written )
epiglottal approximant (usually written )

Lateral approximants

Coarticulated approximants with dedicated IPA symbols

voiced labialized velar approximant (a consonantal )
voiceless labialized velar approximant
labialized palatal approximant (a consonantal )
velarized alveolar lateral approximant

A "central" approximant?

Although many languages have central vowels which lie between back/velar and front/palatal , there are no confirmed reports of corresponding approximants. However, Mapudungun may be a possibility: It has three high vowel sounds, , , , written "i", "u", "ü", and three corresponding consonants, written "y", "w", "q". The first two are clearly and . The "q" is often described as a voiced unrounded velar fricative, but some texts note a correspondence between "q" and that is parallel to - and -. An example is liq "white" ^*.