Editing Semivowel (section)

==Classification==
Semivowels form a subclass of [[Approximant consonant|approximants]].{{sfnp|Crystal|2008|pp=431–2}}{{sfnp|Martínez Celdrán|2004|p=9}} Although "semivowel" and "approximant" are sometimes treated as synonymous,{{sfnp|Meyer|2005|p=101}} most authors use the term "semivowel" for a more restricted set; there is no universally agreed-upon definition, and the exact details may vary from author to author. For example, {{Harvcoltxt|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996}} do not consider the [[labiodental approximant]] {{IPA|[ʋ]}} to be a semivowel.{{sfnp|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=323}}

In the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]], the diacritic attached to non-syllabic vowel letters is an [[inverted breve]] placed below the symbol representing the vowel: {{unichar|032F|COMBINING INVERTED BREVE BELOW|ulink=Phonetic symbols in Unicode|cwith=◌}}. When there is no room for the inverted breve under a symbol, it may be written above, using {{unichar|0311|COMBINING INVERTED BREVE|ulink=Phonetic symbols in Unicode|cwith=◌}}. Before 1989, non-syllabicity was represented by {{unichar|0306|COMBINING BREVE|ulink=Phonetic symbols in Unicode|cwith=◌}}, which now stands for [[extra-shortness]].

Additionally, there are dedicated symbols for four semivowels that correspond to the four close [[cardinal vowel]] sounds:{{sfnp|Martínez Celdrán|2004|p=9}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Semivowel (non-syllabic)
! Vowel (syllabic)
|-
| {{IPAblink|j}} (palatal approximant)
| {{IPAblink|i}} (close front unrounded vowel)
|-
| {{IPAblink|ɥ}} (labio-palatal approximant)
| {{IPAblink|y}} (close front rounded vowel)
|-
| {{IPAblink|ɰ}} (velar approximant)
| {{IPAblink|ɯ}} (close back unrounded vowel)
|-
| {{IPAblink|w}} (labiovelar approximant)
| {{IPAblink|u}} (close back rounded vowel)
|}

In addition, some authors{{sfnp|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=323}}{{sfnp|Martínez Celdrán|2004|p=8}} consider the [[rhotic consonant|rhotic]] approximants {{IPAblink|ɹ}}, {{IPAblink|ɻ|ɻ}} to be semivowels corresponding to [[R-colored vowel]]s such as {{IPAblink|ɚ}}. An unrounded central semivowel, {{IPA|[j̈]}} (or {{IPA|[j˗]}}), equivalent to {{IPA|[ɨ]}}, is uncommon, though rounded {{IPA|[ẅ]}} (or {{IPA|[w̟]}}), equivalent to {{IPA|[ʉ]}}, is found in [[Swedish language|Swedish]] and [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]].