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semivowel
[ sem-ee-vou-uhl ]
noun
- Phonetics. a speech sound of vowel quality used as a consonant, as (w) in wet or (y) in yet.
semivowel
/ ˈsɛmɪˌvaʊəl /
noun
- 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
- a frictionless continuant classified as one of the liquids; (l) or (r)
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Word History and Origins
Origin of semivowel1
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Example Sentences
It should be noted that the Dictionarium, which was written contemporaniously, does use y for the semivowel.
The diphthong oi is the vowel o modified, plus the semivowel y (not the vowel i) modified.
It has taken the allied sound of the semivowel y, and so, with the preceding vowel, constitutes a diphthong.
In roi it is the semivowel allied to series p; in oil it is the semivowel allied to series k.
Effect of the semivowel y on certain letters when they precede it.
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