Liquid consonant

The term liquid designates the consonants: [l] and [ʁ]. These consonants both have a particular behavior from the point of view of the division of words into syllables. For the rest, the two phonemes are of a very different realization.

Normally, when two consonants meet, we make the syllabic cut between the two:

• dernier last: [dɛʁ.nje]
• absent absent: [ap.sɑ̃]

But when these consonants are followed by a (pronounced) vowel, they form a single consonant cluster with the preceding consonant:

• autrefois formerly: [o.tʁə.fwa]