semivowel


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sem·i·vow·el

 (sĕm′ĭ-vou′əl)
n.
A sound that has the quality of one of the high vowels, as (ē) or (o͞o), and that functions as a consonant before or after vowels, as the initial sounds of yell and well and the final sounds of coy and cow. Also called glide.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

semivowel

(ˈsɛmɪˌvaʊəl)
n
1. (Phonetics & Phonology) a vowel-like sound that acts like a consonant, in that it serves the same function in a syllable carrying the same amount of prominence as a consonant relative to a true vowel, the nucleus of the syllable. In English and many other languages the chief semivowels are (w) in well and (j), represented as y, in yell
2. (Phonetics & Phonology) a frictionless continuant classified as one of the liquids; (l) or (r)
Also called (US and Canadian): glide
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sem•i•vow•el

(ˈsɛm ɪˌvaʊ əl)

n.
a speech sound of vowel quality used as a consonant, as (w) in wet or (y) in yet.
[1520–30]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.semivowel - a vowellike sound that serves as a consonant
speech sound, phone, sound - (phonetics) an individual sound unit of speech without concern as to whether or not it is a phoneme of some language
palatal - a semivowel produced with the tongue near the palate (like the initial sound in the English word `yeast')
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in periodicals archive ?
The glide [j] is considered a semivowel or a semiconsonant; it is never considered a separate vowel with its own syllable.
W is a voiced, bilabial semivowel, democratically enlisting our
rot, Czech ret 'lip') and can be arguably traced back to PIE * wero-/* wer- 'speak' (assuming a loss of the initial semivowel) (cf.
The second hypothesis is synchronic, in which the /w/ semivowel is actually underlyingly two different vowel onsets.
manner of articulation (for consonants): stop, fricative, affricate, nasal, lateral, semivowel, trill
The syllabification in the scores follows modern French practice, but when dealing with the semivowel, there is not a standard way of dividing the syllable.
Old Javanese/ Sanskrit words found in other contexts have been standardized to the spelling conventions used by Zoetmulder (1982) in his OldJavanese-English Dictionary, with the exception that v renders the Sanskrit semivowel v (instead of w), and that n renders the Sanskrit velar nasal (instead of n), as well as the anusvara or cecak.
In order to mark the triad ieu, in the first books the final component u was removed or replaced with the semivowel v(iev ~ ie).
A "semivowel" would refer to those consonants we classify today as spirants (fricatives) and liquids.
1 I 2 SKIING 4 IVY 5 VAN 6 VIE 7 SILVIINE 9 SIX 10 OX 11 AXIS 12 TAXIING 14 REFLEXIVE 15 SEXVALENT 19 MAXIXE 40 AXLE 41 OXLIP 50 LA 51 LIE 52 NAUPLII 54 LIVE 55 SOLVE 56 PELVIC 57 SYLVIINE 59 HELIX 60 CALX 90 EXCEL 91 EXCITE 100 CAB 101 ACID 104 CIVET 150 CLAN 151 CLIP 154 PROCLIVITY 200 OCCUR 201 ACCIDENT 204 BACCIVOROUS 250 ACCLAIM 251 ACCLIMATISE 254 ACCLIVITY 500 DO 501 DIE 502 RADII 504 DIVE 505 ADVENT 506 ADVICE 509 RADIX 550 IDLE 551 IDLING 600 MADCAP 650 HEADCLOTH 900 ACME 901 ACMITE 1000 ME 1001 MINE 1002 GASTROCNEMII 1004 SEMIVOWEL 1005 DUUMVIR 1006 TRIUMVIR 1009 MIX 1050 DIMLY 1051 GREMLIN 1100 ARMCHAIR 1500 HUMDRUM 1501 HUMDINGER 2000 DUMMY 2001 COMMIT 2009 COMMIXTURE 2050 BUMMLE 2051 BUMMLING
Liquid consonants and the semivowel sounds (l, m, n, r, y, w) are also considered euphonious.
Letters are divided into consonants, vowels, and semivowel (y).