semivowel

sem·i·vow·el  (sm-voul)

n.

A sound that has the quality of one of the high vowels, as () or (), 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.

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semivowel [ˈsɛmɪˌvaʊəl]

n Phonetics

1. (Linguistics / 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. (Linguistics / Phonetics & Phonology) a frictionless continuant classified as one of the liquids; (l) or (r) Also called glide

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

semivowel - a vowellike sound that serves as a consonant glide 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')