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Voiced labial–palatal approximant
Consonantal sound

The voiced labial–palatal (or labio-palatal) approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages, for example, French huitième, read as [ɥitjɛm]. 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⟩, which indicates [j] with a different kind of rounding.

The labial–palatal approximant can in many cases be considered the semivocalic equivalent of the close front rounded vowel [y]. They alternate with each other in certain languages, such as French, and in the diphthongs of some languages, ⟨ɥ⟩ and ⟨y̑⟩ with the non-syllabic diacritic are used in different transcription systems to represent the same sound. Sometimes, ⟨y̆⟩ is written in place of ⟨y̑⟩, even though the former symbol denotes an extra-short [y] in the official IPA.

Some languages, though, have a palatal approximant that is unspecified for rounding, and therefore cannot be considered the semivocalic equivalent of either [y] or its unrounded counterpart [i]. An example of such a language is Spanish, in which the labialized palatal approximant (not a semivowel) appears allophonically with rounded vowels in words such as ayuda [aˈʝ̞ʷuð̞a] 'help'. According to some sources, it is not correct to transcribe this with the symbol ⟨ɥ⟩, which has a different kind of rounding, or with ⟨jʷ⟩, which implies spread lips; the only suitable transcription is ⟨ʝ̞ʷ⟩. See palatal approximant for more information.

There is also the labialized postpalatal approximant in some languages, which is articulated slightly more back compared with the place of articulation of the prototypical labialized palatal approximant, though not as back as the prototypical labialized velar approximant. It can be considered the semivocalic equivalent of the close central rounded vowel [ʉ]. The International Phonetic Alphabet does not have a separate symbol for that sound, though it can be transcribed as ⟨ɥ̄⟩ or ⟨ɥ˗⟩ (both symbols denote a retracted ⟨ɥ⟩), ⟨ɥ̈⟩ (centralized ⟨ɥ⟩), ⟨w̟⟩ (advanced ⟨w⟩) or ⟨ẅ⟩ (centralized ⟨w⟩). The equivalent X-SAMPA symbols are H_o, H_", w_+ and w_", respectively. Other possible transcriptions include a centralized and labialized ⟨j⟩ (⟨j̈ʷ⟩ in the IPA, j_"_w in X-SAMPA) and a non-syllabic ⟨ʉ⟩ (⟨ʉ̯⟩ in the IPA, }_^ in X-SAMPA).

Especially in broad transcription, the labialized postpalatal approximant may be transcribed as a palatalized and labialized velar approximant (⟨wʲ⟩ in the IPA, w' or w_j in X-SAMPA).

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Compressed palatal approximant

The compressed palatal approximant is typically transcribed in IPA simply as ⟨ɥ⟩, and that is the convention used in this article. There is no dedicated diacritic for compression in the IPA. However, the compression of the lips can be shown with the letter ⟨β̞⟩ as ⟨j͡β̞⟩ (simultaneous [j] and labial compression) or ⟨jᵝ⟩ ([j] modified with labial compression). The spread-lip diacritic ⟨  ͍⟩ may also be used with a labialized approximant letter ⟨ɥ͍⟩ as an ad hoc symbol, though technically 'spread' means unrounded.

The compressed post-palatal approximant4 can be transcribed simply as ⟨ɥ̈⟩ (centralized [ɥ]), and that is the convention used in this article. Other possible transcriptions include ⟨j̈ᵝ⟩ (centralized [j] modified with labial compression) and ⟨ɥ͍̈⟩ (centralized [ɥ] with the spread-lip diacritic).

Features

Features of the compressed palatal approximant:

Occurrence

Because the labialized palatal approximant is assumed to have compression, and few descriptions cover the distinction, some examples in the table below may actually have protrusion.

LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
Abkhazауаҩы[awaˈɥə]'human'See Abkhaz phonology
BretonGwenedegouilhad[ɥiːʎɐt]'escapade'Realization of /w/ before front vowels.
ChineseMandarin月 / yuè[ɥe̹˥˩]'moon'See Mandarin phonology
Shanghainese5浴 / yoq[ɥo̽ʔ˥]'bath'Allophone of /j/ before rounded vowels.6
EnglishBay Islands7will[ɥɪl]'will'Allophone of /w/ or /v/ that only occurs before /i/ or /ɪ/. See Bay Islands English#Phonology.
Frenchnuire[nɥiʁ]ⓘ'to harm'Merges with /w/ or /y/ in Belgian French. See French phonology
Iaaivëk[ɥæk]'four'Contrasts with the voiceless /ɥ̊/.
Kham8Gamale Khamव़े[ɥe]'husband'
KoreanGyeonggi쉬엄쉬엄 / swieomswieom[ɕɥiʌmɕɥiʌm]'Take it easy'Only occurs before /i/. See Korean phonology
Kurdishdüa[dʉːɥɑː]'back'See Kurdish phonology
NorwegianUrban East9dualisme[dʉ̞ɥ̈ɑˈlɪ̟smə]'dualism'Post-palatal; appears prevocalically after the compressed close vowels /ʉ, ʉː/.10 May be transcribed with ⟨w̟⟩ or simply ⟨w⟩. See Norwegian phonology
Shipibo11[example needed]Allophone of /w/ before /i, ĩ/. Only lightly labialized.12
Occitannuèch[ˈnɥɛtʃ]'night'See Occitan phonology
SwedishCentral Standardful[fʉ̟ɥl]ⓘ'ugly'Non-syllabic element of the common diphthongal realization of /ʉː/ ([ʉ̟ɥ]); can be a fricative instead. Palatal in the Central Standard variety, post-palatal in some other varieties. See Swedish phonology
Upper Sorbian13wěm[ɥɪm]'I know'Soft counterpart of /w/.14
XumiLower15[dʑɥɛ˩˥]'fang'Allophone of /w/ when preceded by an (alveolo-)palatal initial and/or followed by one of the front vowels /i, e, ɛ/ (in Upper Xumi also /ĩ/).1617
Upper18[dɥe˩˥]'to ask'

Protruded palatal approximant

As there are no diacritics in the IPA to distinguish protruded and compressed rounding, an old diacritic for labialization, ⟨  ̫⟩, will be used here as an ad hoc symbol for the protruded palatal approximant. Another possible transcription is ⟨ɥʷ⟩ or ⟨jʷ⟩ (a palatal approximant modified by endolabialization).

Acoustically, this sound is "between" the more typical compressed palatal approximant [ɥ] and the non-labialized palatal approximant [j].

Features

Features of the protruded palatal approximant:

Occurrence

LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
NorwegianUrban East19cyanid[sʏ̫ɥ̫ɑˈniːd]'cyanide'Appears prevocalically after the protruded close vowels /ʏ, yː/.20 See Norwegian phonology
Spanishayuda[äˈʝ̞ʷuð̞ä]'help'Approximant consonant; lenited allophone of /ɟ͡ʝ/ before and between rounded vowels. May be a fricative [ʝʷ] in emphatic speech. See Spanish phonology

Notes

References

  1. See e.g. Mangold (2005:42) - Mangold, Max (2005) [1962], Das Aussprachewörterbuch (6th ed.), Mannheim: Dudenverlag, ISBN 978-3-411-04066-7 ↩

  2. Martínez Celdrán (2004), p. 208. - Martínez Celdrán, Eugenio (2004), "Problems in the Classification of Approximants", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 34 (2): 201–210, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001732, S2CID 144568679 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231180567 ↩

  3. Instead of "post-palatal", it can be called "retracted palatal", "backed palatal", "palato-velar", "pre-velar", "advanced velar", "fronted velar" or "front-velar". For simplicity, this article uses only the term "post-palatal". ↩

  4. Instead of "post-palatal", it can be called "retracted palatal", "backed palatal", "palato-velar", "pre-velar", "advanced velar", "fronted velar" or "front-velar". For simplicity, this article uses only the term "post-palatal". ↩

  5. Chen & Gussenhoven (2015), p. 331. - Chen, Yiya; Gussenhoven, Carlos (2015), "Shanghai Chinese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 45 (3): 321–327, doi:10.1017/S0025100315000043 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287375585 ↩

  6. Chen & Gussenhoven (2015), p. 331. - Chen, Yiya; Gussenhoven, Carlos (2015), "Shanghai Chinese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 45 (3): 321–327, doi:10.1017/S0025100315000043 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287375585 ↩

  7. Graham (1997), p. 164. - Graham, William (1997), Bay Islands English: Linguistic Contact and Convergence in the Western Caribbean (PDF), University of Florida https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/AA/00/03/18/23/00001/bayislandsenglis00grah.pdf ↩

  8. Wilde (2016). - Wilde, Christopher P. (2016), "Gamale Kham phonology revisited, with Devanagari-based orthography and lexicon", Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (9): 130–199, hdl:1885/109195 https://hdl.handle.net/1885/109195 ↩

  9. Kristoffersen (2000), p. 35. - Kristoffersen, Gjert (2000), The Phonology of Norwegian, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-823765-5 ↩

  10. Kristoffersen (2000), p. 35. - Kristoffersen, Gjert (2000), The Phonology of Norwegian, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-823765-5 ↩

  11. Valenzuela, Márquez Pinedo & Maddieson (2001), p. 283. - Valenzuela, Pilar M.; Márquez Pinedo, Luis; Maddieson, Ian (2001), "Shipibo", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 31 (2): 281–285, doi:10.1017/S0025100301002109 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/40852342 ↩

  12. Valenzuela, Márquez Pinedo & Maddieson (2001), p. 283. - Valenzuela, Pilar M.; Márquez Pinedo, Luis; Maddieson, Ian (2001), "Shipibo", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 31 (2): 281–285, doi:10.1017/S0025100301002109 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/40852342 ↩

  13. Šewc-Schuster (1984), pp. 36–37, 41, 46. - Šewc-Schuster, Hinc (1984), Gramatika hornjo-serbskeje rěče, Budyšin: Ludowe nakładnistwo Domowina ↩

  14. Šewc-Schuster (1984), pp. 36–37, 41, 46. - Šewc-Schuster, Hinc (1984), Gramatika hornjo-serbskeje rěče, Budyšin: Ludowe nakładnistwo Domowina ↩

  15. Chirkova & Chen (2013), p. 368. - Chirkova, Katia; Chen, Yiya (2013), "Xumi, Part 1: Lower Xumi, the Variety of the Lower and Middle Reaches of the Shuiluo River", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (3): 363–379, doi:10.1017/S0025100313000157 https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100313000157 ↩

  16. Chirkova & Chen (2013), p. 368. - Chirkova, Katia; Chen, Yiya (2013), "Xumi, Part 1: Lower Xumi, the Variety of the Lower and Middle Reaches of the Shuiluo River", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (3): 363–379, doi:10.1017/S0025100313000157 https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100313000157 ↩

  17. Chirkova, Chen & Kocjančič Antolík (2013), p. 387. - Chirkova, Katia; Chen, Yiya; Kocjančič Antolík, Tanja (2013), "Xumi, Part 2: Upper Xumi, the Variety of the Upper Reaches of the Shuiluo River", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (3): 381–396, doi:10.1017/S0025100313000169 https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100313000169 ↩

  18. Chirkova, Chen & Kocjančič Antolík (2013), p. 387. - Chirkova, Katia; Chen, Yiya; Kocjančič Antolík, Tanja (2013), "Xumi, Part 2: Upper Xumi, the Variety of the Upper Reaches of the Shuiluo River", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (3): 381–396, doi:10.1017/S0025100313000169 https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100313000169 ↩

  19. Kristoffersen (2000), p. 35. - Kristoffersen, Gjert (2000), The Phonology of Norwegian, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-823765-5 ↩

  20. Kristoffersen (2000), p. 35. - Kristoffersen, Gjert (2000), The Phonology of Norwegian, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-823765-5 ↩