If there were minimal pairs, we would have to conclude that voiced and voiceless sonorants are separate phonemes. |
This contrasts with sonorants, which are prototypically voiced and only rarely voiceless. |
In phonetics, articulation may be divided into two large classes, obstruents and sonorants. |
Voiced obstruents can stand only before vowels, sonorants and voiced obstruents in the same word. |
Moreover, fricatives can be targeted by the glottal feature, but are optimally realised as sonorants in such cases. |
Initial glottalized sonorants are typically but not invariably pre-glottalized. |