semivowel
Sliding speech sound
A semivowel is a speech sound that functions like a consonant but is produced like a vowel—the sounds represented by *w* and *y* in English.
In water and yes, the initial sounds glide quickly into the following vowel rather than standing alone.
Linguists also call these sounds glides.
Starting point of something
Move with effortless continuity
- liquidFree-flowing substance
- palatalConcerning mouth's roof
- voicedExpressed in speech
- bilabialMade with both lips
alveolar · velar · uvular · articulatory · acoustic · formant · spectrogram · voicing
Move with effortless continuity
- lateralOf the side
- fricativeConsonant with audible friction
- articulatorSpeech sound producer
- tongueOral muscle for taste
lips · palate · constriction · airstream · transition · smooth · continuous · obstruction
Minimal distinctive sound unit
- allophoneNon-distinctive sound variation
- sonorityRichness of tone
- syllabicOf speech segments
- non-syllabicNot a syllable nucleus
onset · coda · nucleus · rhyme · distribution · underlying · surface · contrast
onset
Starting point of something
glide
Move with effortless continuity
bilabial · alveolar · velar · uvular · articulatory · acoustic · formant · spectrogram · voicing · resonance
glide
Move with effortless continuity
- lateralOf the side
- fricativeConsonant with audible friction
- articulatorSpeech sound producer
tongue · lips · palate · constriction · airstream · transition · smooth · continuous · obstruction · narrowing
yod
Tenth Hebrew letter
phoneme
Minimal distinctive sound unit
non-syllabic · onset · coda · nucleus · rhyme · distribution · underlying · surface · contrast · complementary