Approximant Consonants (Liquids and Glides)
Voiced Palatal Liquid
- Contact along posterior lateral margins of palate in Quadrants 3 and 4
- More contact than for rhotic quality vowels (rhotic = "r" sound)
- May also have contact with posterior portion of alveolar ridge
Voiced Alveolar Liquid
Dark
- Tongue-palate contact along alveolar ridge
- Contact is narrower than that of alveolar stops /t/ and /d/
- Dark /l/: vowel-like component occurring post-vocalically
- Light /l/: reaches up to touch the tip of the teeth in dental region occurring pre-vocalically
Light
Approximant Consonants
- Vowel-like sounds
- Vocal tract constriction narrower than for vowels but not as narrow as stop or fricative consonants
- Sometimes referred to as "semivowels" for the closeness to vowels
- Glides: sound produced with a change in articulation from more constricted to less constricted (have a corresponding vowel)
- Liquids: approximant consonants that do not require a change in articulation in order to be identified auditorily
Voiced Palatal Glide
- Looks similar to vowel /i/, but may have slightly more contact in some speakers
- Characterized by broad contact along lateral and velar margins of palate with absence of contact along midline
- Very vowel-like in production
- Corresponding vowel is /i/
Voiced Labial Velar Glide
- Tongue-palate contact along posterior corners of palate in Quadrants 3 and 4
- Extent of contact directly influenced by surrounding vowels
- Most energy is vowel-like at low frequency end of spectrum
- Corresponding vowel is /u/