| Voiced palatal fricative | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ʝ | |||
| IPA number | 139 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity(decimal) | ʝ | ||
| Unicode(hex) | U+029D | ||
| X-SAMPA | j\ | ||
| Braille |   | ||
| |||
Avoiced palatal fricative is a type ofconsonantal sound used in somespokenlanguages. The symbol in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) that represents this sound is ⟨ʝ⟩ (crossed-tail j). It is the non-sibilant equivalent of thevoiced alveolo-palatal sibilant.
Inbroad transcription, the symbol for thepalatal approximant, ⟨j⟩, may be used for the sake of simplicity.
A voiced palatal fricative is an uncommon sound, occurring in only 7 of the 317 languages surveyed by the originalUCLA Phonological Segment Inventory Database[citation needed]. InDutch,Kabyle,Margi,Modern Greek, andScottish Gaelic, the sound occursphonemically, along with itsvoiceless counterpart, and in several more, the sound occurs as a result of phonological processes.
To produce this sound, thetip of the tongue is placed against the roof of the mouth behind the upper front teeth; then, while exhaling, the space between the tongue and the palate is narrowed, creating a friction-like sound similar to the⟨s⟩ sound (IPA:[ʒ]) in the English wordmeasure.
Features of a voiced palatal fricative:
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asturian | frayar | [fɾäˈʝär] | 'to destroy' | ||
| Burmese | [example needed] | Allophone of/j/, particularly word initially. | |||
| Catalan | Majorcan[1] | figuera | [fiˈʝeɾə] | 'fig tree' | Occurs in complementary distribution with[ɟ]. Corresponds to[ɣ] in other varieties. SeeCatalan phonology |
| Danish | Standard[2] | talg | [ˈtʰælˀʝ] | 'tallow' | Possible word-final allophone of/j/ when it occurs after/l/.[2] SeeDanish phonology |
| Dutch | Standard[3] | ja | [ʝaː] | 'yes' | Frequent allophone of/j/, especially in emphatic speech.[3] SeeDutch phonology |
| German | Standard[4][5] | Jacke | [ˈʝäkə] | 'jacket' | Most often transcribed in IPA with ⟨j⟩; also described as an approximant[j][6][7] and a sound variable between a fricative and an approximant.[8] SeeStandard German phonology |
| Greek | Standard | γεια | [ʝɐ] | 'hi' | |
| Cypriot[9] | ελιά | [e̞ˈʝːɐ] | 'olive' | Allophone of/ʎ/ | |
| Hungarian[10] | dobj be | [dobʝbɛ] | 'throw in' | An allophone of/j/. SeeHungarian phonology | |
| Irish[11] | anghrian | [ənʲˈʝɾʲiən̪ˠ] | 'the sun' | SeeIrish phonology | |
| Italian | Southern dialects | figlio | [ˈfiʝːo] | 'son' | Corresponds to/ʎ/ in standard Italian. SeeItalian phonology |
| Kabyle | cceǥ | [ʃʃəʝ] | 'to slip' | ||
| Korean | 사향노루 /sahyangnoru | [sɐʝɐŋnoɾu] | 'Siberian musk deer' | The sound is sometimes heard by people when /h/ is betweenvoiced and combined with /i/, /t/ and /j/, SeeKorean phonology | |
| Lithuanian[12][13] | ji | [ʝɪ] | 'she' | Most often transcribed in IPA with ⟨j⟩; also described as an approximant[j].[14] SeeLithuanian phonology | |
| Margi[15] | [example needed] | Contrasts /ɟ, ᶮɟ, ç, ʝ, j, j̰, ɣ/. | |||
| Mapudungun[16] | kayu | [kɜˈʝʊ] | 'six' | This phoneme corresponds to the letter Y in Mapudungün. SeeMapuche language | |
| Norwegian | Urban East[17][18] | gi | [ʝiː] | 'to give' | Allophone of/j/, especially before and after close vowels and in energetic speech.[18] SeeNorwegian phonology |
| Pashto | Ghiljidialect[19] | موږ | [muʝ] | 'we' | |
| Wardak dialect[19] | |||||
| Ripuarian | zeije | [ˈt͡sɛʝə] | 'to show' | ||
| Russian[20] | яма | [ˈʝämə] | 'pit' | Allophone of/j/ in emphatic speech.[20] SeeRussian phonology | |
| Scottish Gaelic[21] | dhiubh | [ʝu] | 'of them' | Weak fricative; merges with[j] in some dialects. SeeScottish Gaelic phonology | |
| Spanish[22] | sayo | [ˈsäʝo̞] | 'smock' | May also be represented by⟨ll⟩ in many dialects. SeeSpanish phonology andYeísmo | |
| Swedish[23] | jord | [ʝɯᵝːɖ]ⓘ | 'soil' | Allophone of/j/. SeeSwedish phonology | |
| Vietnamese | Middle Vietnamese[24] | Gió [𩙋] | [ʝɔB1] (Tonkinese dialect) | 'wind' | SeeMiddle Vietnamese phonology |
| Voiced post-palatal or pre-velar fricative | |
|---|---|
| ʝ | |
| ɣ᫈ | |
| Audio sample | |
There is also avoiced post-palatal orpre-velar fricative in some languages, which is articulated slightly more back compared with the place of articulation of the prototypical voiced palatal fricative but not as back as the prototypicalvoiced velar fricative. The International Phonetic Alphabet does not have a separate symbol for that sound, but it can be transcribed as ⟨ʝ̠⟩, ⟨ʝ⟩ (aretracted ⟨ʝ⟩), ⟨ɣ̟⟩ or ⟨ɣ᫈⟩ (anadvanced ⟨ɣ⟩).
Especially inbroad transcription, a voiced post-palatal fricative may be transcribed as a palatalized voiced velar fricative, ⟨ɣʲ⟩.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belarusian | геаграфія | [ɣ̟e.äˈɣɾäfʲijä]ⓘ | 'geography' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɣʲ⟩. SeeBelarusian phonology | |
| Dutch | StandardBelgian[25] | negen | [ˈneː.ʝ̠̊ø̜]ⓘ | 'nine' | Often (partially) devoiced.[26] May be velar[ɣ] instead, even near non-front vowels.[25] SeeDutch phonology |
| Southern accents[25] | |||||
| German | Standard[27] | Riese | [ˈɣ̟iːzə]ⓘ | 'giant' | Allophone of the fricative/ʁ/ before and after front vowels.[27] SeeStandard German phonology |
| Greek | StandardModern[28][29] | γένος | [ˈʝ̠e̞no̞s̠]ⓘ | 'grammatical gender' | SeeModern Greek phonology |
| Limburgish | Weert dialect[30] | gèr | [ɣ̟ɛ̈ːʀ̝̊] | 'gladly' | Allophone of/ɣ/ before and after front vowels.[30] SeeWeert dialect phonology |
| Lithuanian[14][31] | Hiustonas | [ˈɣ̟ʊs̪t̪ɔn̪ɐs̪] | 'Houston' | Very rare;[32] typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɣʲ⟩. SeeLithuanian phonology | |
| Russian | Standard[20] | других гимнов | [d̪rʊˈɡ̟ɪɣ̟ˈɡ̟imn̪əf] | 'of other anthems' | Allophone of/x/ before voiced soft consonants;[20] typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɣʲ⟩. The example also illustrates[ɡ̟]. SeeRussian phonology |
| Southern | гимн | [ɣ̟imn̪] | 'anthem' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɣʲ⟩; corresponds to[ɡʲ] in standard Russian. SeeRussian phonology | |
| Scottish Gaelic[33] | seadh | [ʃɤɣ̟] | 'yes, indeed' | Allophone of/ɣ/ after/ɤ/ | |
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mapudungun[34] | [example needed] | Allophone of/ɣ/ before the front vowels/ɪ,e/.[34] | |||
