Voiced palatal approximant

Template:Short description Template:Infobox IPA/core1 Template:Infobox IPA/core1 The voiced palatal approximant is a type of consonant used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is Template:Angbr IPA; the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is j, and in the Americanist phonetic notation it is Template:Angbr. When this sound occurs in the form of a palatal glide it is frequently, but not exclusively, denoted as a superscript j Template:IPAalink in IPA.

This sound is traditionally called a yod, after its name in Hebrew. This is reflected in the names of certain phonological changes, such as yod-dropping and yod-coalescence.

The palatal approximant can often be considered the semivocalic equivalent of the close front unrounded vowel . They alternate with each other in certain languages, such as French, and in the diphthongs of some languages as Template:Angbr IPA and Template:Angbr IPA, with the non-syllabic diacritic used in different phonetic transcription systems to represent the same sound.

A voiced alveolo-palatal approximant is attested as phonemic in the Huastec language, and is represented as an advanced voiced palatal approximant Template:Angbr IPA, or the plus sign may be placed after the letter, Template:Angbr IPA.

Phonetic ambiguity and transcription usage

Some languages, however, have a palatal approximant that is unspecified for rounding and so cannot be considered the semivocalic equivalent of either or its rounded counterpart, Template:IPAblink, which would normally correspond to Template:IPAblink. An example is Spanish, which distinguishes two palatal approximants: an approximant semivowel , which is always unrounded (and is a phonological vowel - an allophone of ), and an approximant consonant unspecified for rounding, (which is a phonological consonant). Eugenio Martínez Celdrán describes the difference between them as follows (with audio examples added):Template:Sfnp

is shorter and is usually a merely transitory sound. It can only exist together with a full vowel and does not appear in syllable onset. [On the other hand,] has a lower amplitude, mainly in F2. It can only appear in syllable onset. It is not noisy either articulatorily or perceptually. can vary towards Template:IPAblink in emphatic pronunciations, having noise (turbulent airstream). (...) There is a further argument through which we can establish a clear difference between and : the first sound cannot be rounded, not even through co-articulation, whereas the second one is rounded before back vowels or the back semi-vowel. Thus, in words like viuda {{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Es-viuda.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler 'widow', Dios {{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Es-Dios.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler 'God', vio {{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Es-vio.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler 's/he saw', etc., the semi-vowel is unrounded; if it were rounded, a sound that does not exist in Spanish, Template:IPAblink, would appear. On the other hand, is unspecified as far as rounding is concerned and it is assimilated to the labial vowel context: rounded with rounded vowels, e.g. ayuda {{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Es-ayuda.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler 'help', coyote {{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Es-coyote.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler 'coyote', hoyuelo {{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Es-hoyuelo.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler 'dimple', etc., and unrounded with unrounded vowels: payaso {{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Es-payaso.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler 'clown', ayer {{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Es-ayer.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler 'yesterday'.

He also considers that "the IPA shows a lack of precision in the treatment it gives to approximants, if we take into account our understanding of the phonetics of Spanish. and are two different segments, but they have to be labelled as voiced palatal approximant consonants. I think that the former is a real consonant, whereas the latter is a semi-consonant, as it has traditionally been called in Spanish, or a semi-vowel, if preferred. The IPA, though, classifies it as a consonant."Template:Sfnp

There is a parallel problem with transcribing the voiced velar approximant.

The symbol Template:Angbr IPA may not display properly in all browsers. In that case, Template:Angbr IPA should be substituted.

In the writing systems used for most languages in Central, Northern, and Eastern Europe, the letter j denotes the palatal approximant, as in German Template:Langx 'year', which is followed by IPA. Although it may be seen as counterintuitive for English-speakers, there are a few words with that orthographical spelling in certain loanwords in English like Hebrew "hallelujah" and German "Jägermeister".

In grammars of Ancient Greek, the palatal approximant, which was lost early in the history of Greek, is sometimes written as Template:Angbr, an iota with the inverted breve below, which is the nonsyllabic diacritic or marker of a semivowel.Template:Sfnp

There is also the post-palatal approximant in some languages, which is articulated slightly more back than the place of articulation of the prototypical palatal approximant but less far back than the prototypical velar approximant. It can be considered the semivocalic equivalent of the close central unrounded vowel The International Phonetic Alphabet does not have a separate symbol for that sound, but it can be transcribed as Template:Angbr IPA, Template:Angbr IPA (both symbols denote a retracted Template:Angbr IPA), Template:Angbr IPA or Template:Angbr IPA (both symbols denote an advanced Template:Angbr IPA). The equivalent X-SAMPA symbols are j_- and M\_+, respectively. Other possible transcriptions include a centralized Template:Angbr IPA (Template:Angbr IPA in the IPA, j_" in X-SAMPA), a centralized Template:Angbr IPA (Template:Angbr IPA in the IPA, M\_" in X-SAMPA) and a non-syllabic Template:Angbr IPA (Template:Angbr IPA in the IPA, 1_^ in X-SAMPA).

For the reasons mentioned above and in the article velar approximant, none of those symbols are appropriate for languages such as Spanish, whose post-palatal approximant consonant (not a semivowel) appears as an allophone of before front vowels and is best transcribed Template:Angbr IPA, Template:Angbr IPA (both symbols denote a lowered and retracted Template:Angbr IPA), Template:Angbr IPA or Template:Angbr IPA (both symbols denote a lowered and advanced Template:Angbr IPA). The equivalent X-SAMPA symbols are j\_o_- and G_o_+.

Especially in broad transcription, the post-palatal approximant may be transcribed as a palatalized velar approximant (Template:Angbr IPA, Template:Angbr IPA or Template:Angbr IPA in the IPA, M\', M\_j, G'_o or G_o_j in X-SAMPA).

A voiced alveolar-palatal approximant is attested as phonemic in the Huastec language.

Features

Features of the voiced palatal approximant:

Template:Approximant The most common type of this approximant is glide or semivowel. The term glide emphasizes the characteristic of movement (or 'glide') of from the Template:IPAblink vowel position to a following vowel position. The term semivowel emphasizes that, although the sound is vocalic in nature, it is not 'syllabic' (it does not form the nucleus of a syllable). For a description of the approximant consonant variant used e.g. in Spanish, see above. Template:Palatal The otherwise identical post-palatal variant is articulated slightly behind the hard palate, making it sound slightly closer to the velar Template:IPAblink. Template:Voiced Template:Oral Template:Central articulation Template:Pulmonic

Occurrence

Palatal

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Adyghe		/yat'a	{{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Yata.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'dirt'
Afrikaans				'yes'	See Afrikaans phonology
Arabic	Standard	/yawm		'day'	See Arabic phonology
AragoneseTemplate:Sfnp				'falls'	Unspecified for rounding approximant consonant; the language also features an unrounded palatal approximant semivowel (which may replace before ).Template:Sfnp
Armenian	EasternTemplate:Sfnp	/yuq		'fat'
Assamese		/manowiyota		'humanity'
Assyrian		ܝܡܐ		'sea'
Azerbaijani				'dream'
Basque				'yes'
Bengali		/noyon		'eye'	See Bengali phonology
Bulgarian		/		'mother'	See Bulgarian phonology
CatalanTemplate:Sfnp	All dialects			'I did'	See Catalan phonology
	Some dialects			'I'
Chechen		/		'six'
Chinese	Cantonese	/		'day'	See Cantonese phonology
	Mandarin	() /		'duck'	See Mandarin phonology
Chuvash		йывăç/yıvëş	[jɯʋəɕ̬]	'tree'
Czech				'is'	See Czech phonology
Danish				'I'	See Danish phonology
Dutch	StandardTemplate:Sfnp			'yes'	Frequently realized as a fricative Template:IPAblink, especially in emphatic speech.Template:Sfnp See Dutch phonology
English		you		'you'	See English phonology
Esperanto				'year'	See Esperanto phonology
Estonian				'leg'	See Estonian phonology
Finnish				'leg'	See Finnish phonology
French				'eyes'	See French phonology
German	StandardTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp			'jacket'	Also described as a fricative Template:IPAblinkTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp and a sound variable between a fricative and an approximant.Template:Sfnp See Standard German phonology
Greek	Ancient Greek	/éiē		's/he shall come'	See Ancient Greek phonology
Hebrew		/yeled		'kid'	See Modern Hebrew phonology
Hindustani		/ /yán		'vehicle'	See Hindustani phonology
Hungarian				'game'	See Hungarian phonology
IrishTemplate:Sfnp				'would cut'	See Irish phonology
Ingush		/ jalat	['jalat]	'grain'	See Ingush phonology
ItalianTemplate:Sfnp				'ion'	See Italian phonology
Jalapa MazatecTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Example needed			Contrasts voiceless Template:IPAslink, plain voiced and glottalized voiced approximants.Template:Sfnp
Japanese		/		'to bake'	See Japanese phonology
Kabardian		/yi		'game'
Kazakh		/yağni		'so'
Khmer		/ Template:Transliteration		'to cry'	See Khmer phonology
Korean		/		'six'	See Korean phonology
Latin				'to throw'	See Latin spelling and pronunciation
LithuanianTemplate:Sfnp				'she'	Also described as a fricative Template:IPAblink.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp See Lithuanian phonology
Macedonian		/kraj		'end'	See Macedonian phonology
Malay				'love'
Maltese				'he eats'
MapudungunTemplate:Sfnp				'six'	May be a fricative Template:IPAblink instead.Template:Sfnp
Marathi		/yaš		'success'
Nepali		/yam		'season'	See Nepali phonology
Norwegian	Urban EastTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp			'to give'	May be a fricative Template:IPAblink instead.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp See Norwegian phonology
Odia		/samaya		'time'
Persian		یزد/Yäzd	[]	'Yazd'	See Persian phonology
PolishTemplate:Sfnp			{{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Pl-jutro-2.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'tomorrow'	See Polish phonology
Portuguese				'buoy', 'float'	Allophone of both Template:IPAslink and Template:IPAslink, as well as a very common epenthetic sound before coda sibilants in some dialects. See Portuguese phonology
Punjabi		ਯਾਰ/yár		'friend'
Romanian				'again'	See Romanian phonology
RussianTemplate:Sfnp		/jama		'pit'	See Russian phonology
Serbo-CroatianTemplate:Sfnp		/		'South'	See Serbo-Croatian phonology
SlovakTemplate:Sfnp				'to eat'	See Slovak phonology
Slovene				'I'
Solos		yas	[jas]	'up'	See Alphabet section in Solos language
SpanishTemplate:Sfnp	Standard		{{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Es-ayer.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'yesterday'	Unspecified for rounding approximant consonant; the language also features an unrounded palatal approximant semivowel.Template:Sfnp Contrast with /j/. See Spanish phonology
	Rioplatense		[ˈje.lo]	'ice'
Swedish				'I'	May be realized as a palatal fricative Template:IPAblink instead. See Swedish phonology
Tagalog				'sparrow'
Tamil			[ˈjaːnaɪ]	'elephant'
Telugu				'agony'
TurkishTemplate:Sfnp				'way'	See Turkish phonology
Turkmen				'silk'
Ubykh		ајәушқӏa/ajëwšq'a		'you did it'	See Ubykh phonology
Ukrainian		їжак / ïžak		'hedgehog'	See Ukrainian phonology
Vietnamese	Southern dialects			'cinnamon'	Corresponds to northern . See Vietnamese phonology
Washo				'leaf'	Contrasts voiceless Template:IPAslink and voiced approximants.
Welsh		iaith	[jai̯θ]	'language'	See Welsh phonology
West Frisian				'coat'	See West Frisian phonology
Zapotec	TilquiapanTemplate:Sfnp	yan		'neck'

Post-palatal

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
SpanishTemplate:Sfnp			{{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Es-seguir.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'to follow'	Lenited allophone of before front vowels;Template:Sfnp typically transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA. See Spanish phonology
Turkish	Standard prescriptiveTemplate:Sfnp			'wedding'	Either post-palatal or palatal; phonetic realization of (also transcribed as ) before front vowels.Template:Sfnp See Turkish phonology

See also

• Palatal lateral approximant
• Nasal palatal approximant
• Index of phonetics articles

External links

• Template:Phoible
• Template:Phoible