Approximants

Introduction

As we have seen, the IPA distinguishes between consonants and vowels as two different kinds of segment. The distinction seems real enough if we consider obvious vowels like [ɑ u i], or obvious consonants like [p f m]. In fact, the distinction between vowel and consonant is not so straightforward, and this point is most clearly seen with the approximants.

Approximants are formed when two articulators are brought together (‘approximated’: ‘ad-’, ‘to’, ‘prox-’, ‘near’, in Latin) so that air passes through the vocal tract without generating any friction noise, and the velum is raised, sealing off the nasal cavities. In this respect, approximants are like vowels: in fact, the definition just given fits vowels as well as approximants. The theoretical distinction between consonants and vowels is difficult to make. In common with the IPA, we will treat vowels as sounds which form a syllable, and approximants as vocalic sounds which function as consonants.

Approximants can have airflow down the mid-line of the oral tract, or down one (or both) sides. In English, the approximants at the systematic level are [j w r l]. We will start by looking at [j] and [w], because these closely resemble cardinal vowels [i] and [u], and are the most straightforward to describe. We will then move on to look at [l] and [r], which are phonetically complex and highly variable across varieties of English.