Consonant-Vowel division

All theories assume that phonological inventories are made of consonants on the one hand and vowels on the other, yet the division between these two sets is not straightforward: to wit, neither consonants nor vowels are regarded as phonological primes. In addition, independently of their phonetics, consonants and vowels behave differently in phonology. It is well-known that some consonants may pattern with vowels and are therefore usually referred to as syllabic consonants, whereas some vowels (glides) display the opposite behaviour, i.e. they pattern with consonants when adjacent to vowels. Phonological theories adopt a range of formal solutions to capture the distribution of consonants and vowels, spanning from features such as [consonantal], [vocalic], or [syllabic] to the use of distinct autosegmental slots such as O(nset) or C(onsonant) on the one hand, and N(ucleus) or V(owel) on the other. It is argued here that such a view, in which consonants and vowels are distinguished by positional properties, is the most adequate in explaining phonological patterns.