Approximant Consonants

Approximant consonants are pronounced almost without blocking the air or creating friction. They are more sonorous than other consonants but less sonorous than vowels. There are 2 types of approximant consonants: semivowels, and liquids.

Semivowels
Semivowels are actually non-syllabic vowels. They are commonly definded by phonetic features of consonants, but they have no different mouth position from vowels.

Liquids
Liquids are approximants that are not similar to any vowel, and they are prototypically non-syllabic.

Laterals
Lateral liquids are pronounced by blocking the air in the center of the mouth and creating two air passages, one in each side of the mouth.

Approximants in Orish

 * L - represents the alveolar lateral approximant
 * R - represnets the rhotic phoneme, some of its free allophones are approximants.
 * Y - represents the palatal approximant.
 * W - represents the labiovelar approximant.