noun Date: 1530 a speech sound (as \\y\\, \\w\\, or \\r\\) that has the articulation of a vowel but that is shorter in duration and is treated as a consonant in syllabication, a letter representing a ~
SEMIVOWEL
Meaning of SEMIVOWEL in English
Merriam Webster. Explanatory English dictionary Merriam Webster. Толковый словарь английского языка Мерриам-Уэбстер. 2012