Editing Liquid consonant (section)

{{Short description|Class of speech sounds}}
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In [[linguistics]], a '''liquid consonant''' or simply '''liquid''' is any of a class of [[consonant]]s that consists of [[Rhotic consonant|rhotics]] and [[Voiced consonant|voiced]] [[Lateral consonant|lateral approximants]], which are also sometimes described as "R-like sounds" and "L-like sounds". The word ''liquid'' seems to be a [[calque]] of the Ancient Greek word {{lang|grc|ὑγρός}} ({{Transliteration|grc|hygrós}}; {{translation|moist}}), initially used by grammarian [[Dionysius Thrax]] to describe Greek [[sonorant]]s.

Liquid consonants are more prone to be part of [[consonant cluster]]s and of the [[syllable nucleus]]. Their third [[formant]]s are generally non-predictable based on the first two formants. Another important feature is their complex [[Articulatory phonetics|articulation]], which makes them a hard consonant class to study with precision and the last consonants to be produced by children during their [[phonological development]]. They are also more likely to undergo certain types of [[phonological change]]s such as [[Assimilation (phonology)|assimilation]], [[dissimilation]] and [[Metathesis (linguistics)|metathesis]].

Most languages have at least one liquid in their [[phonemic inventory]]. English has two, {{IPA|/l/}} and {{IPA|/ɹ/}}.