GLIDE

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GLIDE. In PHONETICS, such APPROXIMANT sounds as the /w/ of wet and the /j/ of yet, which have no steady state even when pronounced in isolation. Whereas it is easy to say [s] and [m] and prolong them without a following VOWEL, [j, w] require a following vowel to glide into, such as schwa [wə, jə]. If they are artificially prolonged, they become vowels similar to the [uː] of move and the [iː] of leave respectively. The approximant r can also be regarded as a glide. Although they are vocalic, glides behave in a SYLLABLE as though they are CONSONANTS: the glides in yak, wake, rake belong to the syllable margin as do the consonants in bake, sake, take. In view of their intermediate status, glides are sometimes known as semi-vowels, sometimes as semi-consonants. See R-SOUNDS, SPEECH.

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