Palatal approximant
| Palatal approximant | |
|---|---|
| j | |
| IPA number | 153 |
| Encoding | |
| Entity (decimal) |
j |
| Unicode (hex) | U+006A |
| X-SAMPA |
j |
| Kirshenbaum |
j |
| Braille |
 |
| Sound | |
 source · help | |
The voiced palatal approximant is a type of consonantal sound 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⟩, 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'. This is the IPA usage, and although it may be counter-intuitive for English speakers, it does occur with this sound in a few English words, such as hallelujah and 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 non-syllabic 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 |
| Assyrian Neo-Aramaic | yama | [ja:ma] | 'ocean' | ||
| Armenian | Eastern[2] | յուղ | [juʁ] | 'fat' | |
| Afrikaans | ja | [jaː] | '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 | |
| Hungarian | játék | [jaːteːk] | 'game' | See Hungarian phonology | |
| Kabardian | йи | [ji] | 'game' | ||
| Irish[4] | ghearrfadh | [ˈjɑːɾˠhəx] | 'would cut' | See Irish phonology | |
| Italian[5] | ione | [ˈjone] | '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 | jul | [jʉːl] | 'Christmas' | See Norwegian phonology | |
| Polish[6] | jutro | [ˈjut̪rɔ] | 'tomorrow' | See Polish phonology | |
| Portuguese | All dialects[7] | bóia | [ˈbɔj.jɐ] | 'buoy', 'float' | Allophone of both /i/ and /ʎ/,[8] as well as a very common epenthetic sound before coda sibilants in some dialects. Brazilian dialects that have [ɪ] prefer [ɪ̯] when in coda position. See Portuguese phonology |
| Some dialects[8] | os olhos | [ujˈzɔj ~ zɔj.ju] | 'the eyes' | ||
| Punjabi | ਯਾਰ | [jäːɾ] | 'friend' | ||
| Romanian | iar | [jar] | 'again' | See Romanian phonology | |
| Russian | я ya | [ja] | 'I' | See Russian phonology | |
| Spanish[9] | viuda | [ˈbjuð̞ä] | 'widow' | Allophone of both /i/ and /ʝ/. 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 dialect. Corresponds to northern /z/. See Vietnamese phonology | |
| West Frisian | jas | [jɔs] | 'coat' | ||
| Zapotec | Tilquiapan[10] | yan | [jaŋ] | 'neck' | |
See also
- Voiceless palatal approximant
- Palatal lateral approximant
- Nasal palatal approximant
- Index of phonetics articles
References
- ↑ Smyth (1920:11)
- ↑ Dum-Tragut (2009:13)
- ↑ Carbonell & Llisterri (1992:53)
- ↑ Ó Sé (2000:17)
- ↑ Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004:117)
- ↑ Jassem (2003:103)
- ↑ (Portuguese) Delta: Documentation of studies on theoric and applied Linguistics – Problems in the tense variant of carioca speech.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 (Portuguese) The acoustic-articulatory path of the lateral palatal consonant's allophony. Pages 223 and 228.
- ↑ Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003:256)
- ↑ 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
- 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", 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
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