Dictionary Definition
semivowel n : a vowel-like sound that serves as a
consonant [syn: glide]
User Contributed Dictionary
Noun
Synonyms
Translations
sound in speech
- Czech: polosamohláska
Extensive Definition
Semivowels—also known as glides, especially in
older literature—are non-syllabic vowels that form diphthongs with full syllabic
vowels. That is, they are vowel-like sounds that do not form the
nucleus
of a syllable or mora;
they are not the most prominent
part of the syllable. They are normally written by adding the
IPA
non-syllabicity mark [ ̯ ] to a vowel letter,
but often for simplicity the vowel letter alone is written.
Semivowels may contrast with approximants,
which are similar to but closer than
vowels or semivowels and behave as consonants.
To illustrate, the English word wow may be
transcribed as [waʊ̯] (often abbreviated
as [waʊ]). Even though both the
[w] and the [ʊ̯] are similar to the vowel [u], the transcription [waʊ̯] indicates that the initial segment is
considered to be a consonant by the transcriber, while the final
segment is considered to form a diphthong with the preceding vowel.
The approximant is more constricted and therefore more
consonant-like than the semivowel [ʊ̯] or
the vowel [u].
Because they are so similar phonetically, the
concepts of semivowel and approximant are often used
interchangeably. In this conflated usage, semivowels are defined as
those approximants that correspond phonetically to specific close
vowels. These are , corresponding to ; for ; for ; and for . In
American English, there is also rhotic [ɹ] for [ɝ]. (See approximant for details.)
However, languages such as Nepali,
Romanian
and Samoan
have additional semivowels such as [e̯]
and [o̯] that correspond to mid vowels, and
which other than being non-syllabic are not at all like
consonants.
Examples
In languages such as Japanese and Hawaiian, every vocalic segment constitutes a separate syllable or mora. That is, at least in careful speech, there are no diphthongs. For example, the Japanese word hai 'yes' is pronounced [ha.i], and aoi 'be blue/green' is [a.o.i]. (The sounds /j/ and /w/ behave as consonants in these languages.)- English eye [ɑɪ̯]
- English cow [kaʊ̯]
- Dutch ui "onion" [œʏ̯]* Samoan ’ai "probably" [ʔai̯]
- Samoan ’ae "but" [ʔae̯]
- Samoan ’auro "gold" [ʔau̯ɾo]
- Samoan ao "a cloud" [ao̯]
Spanish,
in addition to having 14 phonemic diphthongs involving non-syllabic
[i] and [u],
also has a number of diphthongs formed by non-syllabic mid-vowels
as the result of fast-speech as in poeta [ˈpo̯eta] ('poet') and maestro [ˈmae̯stɾo] ('teacher'). Italian
has a similar process.
Non-rhotic dialects of English have a non-syllabic schwa immediately after the vowel
nucleus, as in RP
[ˈfɛə̯] fair. Many dialects of German do
something similar, as in Tor [ˈtʰoːɐ̯]
'gate' and Würde [ˈvʏɐ̯də] 'dignity'. In
rhotic dialects of English, the final r may be considered a rhotic
semivowel rather than a consonant; the decision whether to
transcribe fair as [ˈfɛɚ̯] or
[ˈfɛɹ] is similar to the choice of
[ˈbaɪ̯] vs. [ˈbaj] for buy (see below).
Transcription
Diphthongs are variously transcribed in English.
The simplest method, typographically, is to write eye as
[aj] and cow as [kaw]. However, phoneticians often object that the
final segments of these words do not have the constriction that
characterizes the consonants [j] and
[w] in yes [jɛs] and wall [wɔɫ], but
rather are purely vocalic, and that therefore the symbols and are
inappropriate. In languages that contrast [ao̯] with [au̯], such as
Samoan,
the symbol obviously cannot be used for both. Transcribing them
with vowel symbols not only enables that contrast, but it allows a
more precise transcription of other diphthongs. For example, the
diphthong in English bay is often transcribed with a near-high
semivowel, [beɪ̯], as being more accurate
than a fully high semivowel, [bei̯].