Editing Approximant (section)

{{Short description|Type of speech sound}}
{{About|the concept in linguistics|the concept in mathematics|Continued fraction}}
{{Distinguish|Approximate}}
{{CS1 config|mode=cs2}}

{{Cleanup lang|date=September 2024}}{{IPA notice}}

'''Approximants''' are [[phone (phonetics)|speech sounds]] that involve the [[Speech organ|articulators]] approaching each other but not narrowly enough<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Ladefoged|1975|p=277}}</ref> nor with enough articulatory precision<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Martínez-Celdrán|2004|p=201}}, citing {{Harvcoltxt|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996}}</ref> to create [[manner of articulation|turbulent airflow]]. Therefore, approximants fall between [[fricative consonant|fricatives]], which do produce a turbulent airstream, and [[vowel]]s, which produce no turbulence.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Martínez-Celdrán|2004|p=201}}</ref> This class is composed of sounds like {{IPA|[ɹ]}} (as in ''rest'') and [[semivowels]] like {{IPA|[j]}} and {{IPA|[w]}} (as in ''yes'' and ''west'', respectively), as well as [[Lateral consonant|lateral]] approximants like {{IPA|[l]}} (as in ''less'').<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Martínez-Celdrán|2004|p=201}}</ref>