Approximant consonant = almost a vowel?

[Rebecka N]

It seems to me that manner / degree of constriction is what primarily defines consonants; When there is no constriction we have a vowel. Are there examples of approximant consonants which are “almost vowels”, then? Or can’t we think of the difference between consonants and vowels as a scale between full constriction and no constriction because consonants and vowels always come with other (non-gradient?) properties (properties like vowels tend to be in the nuclei and more audible etc., as per Table 1.1 in chapter 1 of the Phonetics book)?

[Rebekka Puderbaugh]

You’re definitely on the right track. There are a couple of ways that consonants and vowels can be defined, phonetically and phonologically. Phonetically approximants are very vowel-like, though they might have steeper transitions than vowels and probably have rather shorter durations. Phonologically, approximants often behave more like consonants in the ways you’ve pointed out, i.e. not generally appearing in syllable nuclei. Of course, the definition of syllables and what might make a good nucleus will depend on the specific language that you’re dealing with, and how it all fits into the phonological system as a whole.

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