Palatal approximant
The
palatal approximant is a type of
consonantal sound, used in very many
spoken languages. The symbol in the
International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is
. The equivalent
X-SAMPA symbol is
j, and in the
Americanist phonetic notation it is
y.
Features of the palatal approximant:
* Its
manner of articulation is
approximant, which means it is produced by bringing one articulator close to another but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced.
* Its
place of articulation is
palatal which means it is articulated with the middle or back part of the
tongue raised against the
hard palate.
* Its
phonation type is voiced, which means the vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation.
* It is an
oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth.
* It is a
central consonant, which means it is produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the middle of the tongue, rather than the sides.
* The
airstream mechanism is
pulmonic egressive, which means it is articulated by pushing air out of the
lungs and through the vocal tract, rather than from the
glottis or the mouth.
The palatal approximant occurs in
English, and it is the sound denoted by the letter "y" in
you or
yesterday.
In most languages of Central and Eastern Europe, the letter "j" denotes the palatal approximant, like the
German word "Jacke". In
Finnic languages such as
Finnish, this is mostly without exception, but the Savo dialect also marks
palatalization with 'j'. In Germanic languages, there are exceptions such as the Swedish digraph "tj" (, , or ).
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