Voiced palatal approximant

Uncommon card · No. 125234

A voiced palatal approximant is a type of consonant used in many spoken languages. It is familiar to English-speakers as the ⟨y⟩ sound in young. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨j⟩; the equivalent symbol in the Americanist phonetic notation is ⟨y⟩. If it is necessary to avoid the implication that the approximant is spread as its vocalic equivalent [i] is, it may instead be transcribed ⟨ʝ̞⟩ or ⟨ʝ᫛⟩ (or ⟨ʝ˕⟩, which is now dated). When this sound occurs in the form of a palatal glide it is frequently, but not exclusively, denoted as a superscript j ⟨ʲ⟩ 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. A palatal approximant is often the semivocalic equivalent of a close front unrounded vowel [i]. They alternate with each other in certain languages, such as French, and in the diphthongs of some languages as ⟨j⟩ and...

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