Labialized palatal approximant | |||
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ɥ | |||
jʷ | |||
IPA number | 171 | ||
Encoding | |||
Entity (decimal) | ɥ |
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Unicode (hex) | U+0265 | ||
X-SAMPA | H |
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Kirshenbaum | j<rnd> |
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Braille | |||
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Sound | |||
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The labialized palatal approximant, also called the labial–palatal or labio-palatal approximant, is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. It has two constrictions in the vocal tract: with the tongue on the palate, and rounded at the lips. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɥ⟩, a rotated lowercase letter ⟨h⟩, or occasionally ⟨jʷ⟩, since it is a labialized [j].
The labialized palatal approximant is the semivocalic equivalent of the close front rounded vowel [y]. The two are almost identical featurally. They alternate with each other in certain languages, such as French, and in the diphthongs of some languages, ⟨ɥ⟩ and ⟨y̯⟩ with the non-syllabic diacritic are used in different transcription systems to represent the same sound.
Contents
Features
Features of the labial-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.
- Its place of articulation is called labio-palatal, which means it is labialized palatal, accomplished by raising the body of the tongue toward the palate while rounding the lips.
- 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 | |
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Abkhaz | ауаҩы | [awaˈɥə] | 'human' | See Abkhaz phonology | |
Chinese | Mandarin | 月 yuè | [ɥœ˥˩] | 'moon' | See Mandarin phonology |
Korean | 귀 gwi | [kɥi] | 'ear' | See Korean phonology | |
French | nuit | [nɥi] (help·info) | 'night' | Replaced by [w] in Belgium. See French phonology | |
Swedish | yla | [ˈyː(ɥ)la] | 'howl' | Occurrence varies with dialect. See Swedish phonology |
See also
References
- Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.