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Problems in the classification of approximants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2004

Eugenio Martínez-Celdrán
Affiliation:
Laboratori de Fonètica, Facultat de Filologia, Universitat de Barcelona. martinezceldran@ub.edu

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to show that the approximant feature refers to a phonetic class which includes other subcategories of sounds, such as semi-vowels, rhotics, laterals and a subset of consonants. The consonants – due to the lack of articulatory precision – keep neither the obligatory closure for stops nor the aerodynamic characteristics required to produce a turbulent airstream, as is characteristic of fricatives. I am referring to these sounds as [[Voiced bilabial fricative] [Voiced dental fricative] [Voiced palatal fricative] [Voiced velar fricative]]. Moreover, I suggest a new definition of the approximant feature, which points out that the outflow of non-turbulent airstream is caused by either the opening of the organs or the lack of articulatory precision, or even both phenomena together.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Journal of the International Phonetic Association 2004

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