Editing Approximant (section)

=== Disagreement over use of the term ===
Voiceless approximants are treated as a phonetic category by (among others) {{Harvcoltxt|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996}}, {{Harvcoltxt|Catford|1977}}, and {{Harvcoltxt|Bickford|Floyd|2006}}. However, the term ''voiceless approximant'' is seen by some phoneticians as controversial. It has been pointed out that if ''approximant'' is defined as a speech sound that involves the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough to create turbulent airflow, then it is difficult to see how a ''voiceless'' approximant could be audible.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Akamatsu|1992|p=30}}</ref> As [[John C. Wells]] puts it in his blog, "voiceless approximants are by definition inaudible&nbsp;... If there's no friction and no voicing, there's nothing to hear."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wells |first1=J. C. |title=[h]: Fricative or approximant? |url=https://phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/2009/04/h-fricative-or-approximant.html |website=John Wells' Blog |date=7 April 2009 |access-date=23 December 2020}}</ref> A similar point is made in relation to frictionless continuants by {{Harvcoltxt|O'Connor|1973}}: "There are no voiceless frictionless continuants because this would imply silence; the voiceless counterpart of the frictionless continuant is the voiceless fricative."<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|O'Connor|1973|p=61}}</ref> {{harvcoltxt|Ohala|Solé|2010}} argue that the increased airflow arising from voicelessness alone makes a voiceless continuant a fricative, even if lacking a greater constriction in the oral cavity than a voiced approximant.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Ohala|Solé|2010|p=43}}</ref>

{{Harvcoltxt|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996}} argue that [[Burmese language|Burmese]] and [[Standard Tibetan]] have voiceless lateral approximants {{IPA|[l̥]}} and [[Navajo language|Navajo]] and [[Zulu language|Zulu]] voiceless lateral fricatives {{IPAblink|ɬ}}, but also say that "in other cases it is difficult to decide whether a voiceless lateral should be described as an approximant or a fricative".<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|pp=198–9}}</ref> {{harvcoltxt|Asu|Nolan|Schötz|2015}} compared voiceless laterals in [[Estonian Swedish]], [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]], and [[Welsh language|Welsh]] and found that Welsh-speakers consistently used {{IPA|[ɬ]}}, that Icelandic-speakers consistently used {{IPA|[l̥]}}, and that speakers of Estonian Swedish varied in their pronunciation. They conclude that there is "a range of variants within voiceless laterals, rather than a categorical split between lateral fricatives and voiceless approximant laterals".<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Asu|Nolan|Schötz|2015|p=5}}</ref>