Palatal approximant

Palatal approximant
j
IPA number	153
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	j
Unicode (hex)	U+006A
X-SAMPA	j
Kirshenbaum	j
Braille
Sound
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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 ⟨j⟩. The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is j, and in the Americanist phonetic notation it is ⟨y⟩. Because the English name of the letter J, jay, does not start with [j] but with [d͡ʒ] (voiced palato-alveolar affricate), this approximant is sometimes called yod instead, as in the phonological history terms yod-dropping and yod-coalescence.

The palatal approximant is the semivocalic equivalent of the close front unrounded vowel [i]. The two are almost identical featurally. They alternate with each other in certain languages, such as French, and in the diphthongs of some languages, ⟨j⟩ and ⟨i̯⟩ with the non-syllabic diacritic are used in different transcription systems to represent the same sound.

In the writing systems used for most of the languages of Central, Northern, and Eastern Europe, the letter j denotes the palatal approximant, as in German Jahr 'year'. That is followed by IPA although it may be counterintuitive for English speakers (words occur with this sound in a few 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 ⟨ι̯⟩ (iota with the inverted breve below, the nonsyllabic diacritic or marker of a semivowel).^[1]

Features

Features of the palatal approximant:

• Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulent airstream. The type of approximant is glide or semivowel. The term glide emphasizes the characteristic of movement (or 'glide') of /j/ from the /i/ 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).

• Its place of articulation is palatal, which means it is articulated with the middle or back part of the tongue raised to the hard palate.

• Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.

• It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.

• It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.

• The airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Adyghe		ятӀэ	[jatʼa]	'dirt'
Arabic	Standard	يوم	[jawm]	'day'	See Arabic phonology
Assamese		মানৱীয়তা	[manɔwijɔta]	'humanity'
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic		yama	[ja:ma]	'ocean'
Armenian	Eastern[2]	յուղ	[juʁ]	'fat'
Afrikaans		ja	[jɑː]	'yes'
Azerbaijani		yuxu	[juxu]	'dream'
Basque		bai	[baj]	'yes'
Bulgarian		майка/mayka	[ˈmajkɐ]	'mother'
Catalan[3]		seient	[səˈjen]	'seat'	See Catalan phonology
Chechen		ялх/yalx	[jalx]	'six'
Chinese	Cantonese	日/jat9	[jɐt˨ʔ]	'day'	See Cantonese phonology
	Mandarin	鸭/yā	[ja˥]	'duck'	See Mandarin phonology
Corsican		ghjesgia	[ˈjeːʒa]	'church'	Also occurs in the Gallurese dialect
Czech		je	[jɛ]	'is'	See Czech phonology
Danish		jeg	[jä]	'I'	See Danish phonology
Dutch		jaar	[jäːr]	'year'	See Dutch phonology
English		you	[juː]	'you'	See English phonology
Esperanto		jaro	[jaro]	'year'	See Esperanto phonology
Finnish		jalka	[ˈjɑlkɑ]	'leg'	See Finnish phonology
French		yeux	[jø]	'eyes'	See French phonology
German		Joch	[jɔx]	'yoke'	See German phonology
Hebrew		ילד	[ˈjeled]	'boy'	See Modern Hebrew phonology
Hindustani	Hindi	यान	[jɑːn]	'vehicle'	See Hindustani phonology
	Urdu
Hungarian		játék	[jaːteːk]	'game'	See Hungarian phonology
Kabardian		йи	[ji]	'game'
Irish[4]		ghearrfadh	[ˈjɑːɾˠhəx]	'would cut'	See Irish phonology
Italian[5]		ione	[ˈjoːne]	'ion'	See Italian phonology
Japanese		焼く/yaku	[jaku͍]	'to bake'	See Japanese phonology
Korean		야구/yagu	[ˈjaːɡu]	'baseball'	See Korean phonology
Macedonian		крај	[kraj]	'end'	See Macedonian phonology
Malay		sayang	[sajaŋ]	'love'
Marathi		यश	[jəʃ]	'success'
Norwegian	Standard Eastern[6][7]	gi	[jiː]	'to give'	May be a fricative [ʝ] instead.[7][8] See Norwegian phonology
Polish[9]		jutro	[ˈjut̪rɔ]	'tomorrow'	See Polish phonology
Portuguese[10]		bóia	[ˈbɔj.jɐ]	'buoy', 'float'	Allophone of both /i/ and /ʎ/,[11] as well as a very common epenthetic sound before coda sibilants in some dialects. See Portuguese phonology
Punjabi		ਯਾਰ	[jäːɾ]	'friend'
Romanian		iar	[jar]	'again'	See Romanian phonology
Russian		я/ya	[ja]	'I'	See Russian phonology
Spanish[12]		viuda	[ˈbjuð̞ä]	'widow'	Both non-syllabic /i/ and intervocalic /ʝ/ are approximants, though speakers may still contrast the two. See Spanish phonology
Swedish		jag	[ˈjɑːɡ]	'I'	See Swedish phonology
Turkish		yol	[joɫ]	'way'	See Turkish phonology
Turkmen		ýüpek	[jypek]	'silk'
Ubykh		[ajəwʃqʼa]		'you did it'	See Ubykh phonology
Ukrainian		їжак/jižak	[jiˈʒɑk]	'hedgehog'	See Ukrainian phonology
Vietnamese		de	[jɛ]	'cinnamon'	Southern dialects. Corresponds to northern /z/. See Vietnamese phonology
West Frisian		jas	[jɔs]	'coat'
Zapotec	Tilquiapan[13]	yan	[jaŋ]	'neck'

See also

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

References

1. Smyth (1920:11)
2. Dum-Tragut (2009:13)
3. Carbonell & Llisterri (1992:53)
4. Ó Sé (2000:17)
5. Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004:117)
6. Kristoffersen (2000:22 and 25)
7. Vanvik (1979:41)
8. Kristoffersen (2000:74)
9. Jassem (2003:103)
10. (Portuguese) Delta: Documentation of studies on theoric and applied Linguistics – Problems in the tense variant of carioca speech.
11. (Portuguese) The acoustic-articulatory path of the lateral palatal consonant's allophony. Pages 223 and 228.
12. Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003:256)
13. Merrill (2008:108)

Bibliography

• Carbonell, Joan F.; Llisterri, Joaquim (1992), "Catalan", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 22 (1–2): 53–56, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004618
• Dum-Tragut, Jasmine (2009), Armenian: Modern Eastern Armenian, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company
• Jassem, Wiktor (2003), "Polish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (1): 103–107, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001191
• Kristoffersen, Gjert (2000), The Phonology of Norwegian, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-823765-5
• Martínez-Celdrán, Eugenio; Fernández-Planas, Ana Ma.; Carrera-Sabaté, Josefina (2003), "Castilian Spanish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (2): 255–259, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001373
• Merrill, Elizabeth (2008), "Tilquiapan Zapotec" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association 38 (1): 107–114, doi:10.1017/S0025100308003344
• Ó Sé, Diarmuid (2000), Gaeilge Chorca Dhuibhne (in Irish), Dublin: Institiúid Teangeolaíochta Éireann, ISBN 0-946452-97-0
• Smyth, Herbert Weir (1920), A Greek Grammar for Colleges, Calvin College Library
• Rogers, Derek; d'Arcangeli, Luciana (2004), "Italian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (1): 117–121, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001628
• Thelwall, Robin; Sa'Adeddin, M. Akram (1990), "Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 20 (2): 37–41, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004266
• Vanvik, Arne (1979), Norsk fonetikk, Oslo: Universitetet i Oslo, ISBN 82-990584-0-6