APPROXIMANTS

It is relatively easy to recognize a stop or fricative, and to diagnose the articulators involved, since these are either touching or so close that their location can be felt. In approximants, on the other hand, the active and passive articulator never become sufficiently close to create audible friction. Instead, the open approximation of the articulators alters the shape of the oral cavity, and leads to the production of a particular sound quality

There are four approximant consonant phonemes in English: /j/ yes, /w/ wet, /r/ red (although as we have seen, /r/ may have a tapped allophone for some speakers) and /l/ let. All these approximants are voiced.