# Voiced palatal fricative

The voiced palatal fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) that represents this sound is ⟨ʝ⟩ (crossed-tail j), and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is j\. It is the non-sibilant equivalent of the voiced alveolo-palatal sibilant.
In broad transcription, the symbol for the palatal approximant, ⟨j⟩, may be used for the sake of simplicity.
The voiced palatal fricative is a very rare sound, occurring in only 7 of the 317 languages surveyed by the original UCLA Phonological Segment Inventory Database. In Dutch, Kabyle, Margi, Modern Greek, and Scottish Gaelic, the sound occurs phonemically, along with its voiceless counterpart, and in several more, the sound occurs as a result of phonological processes.
To produce this sound, the tip 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:) in the English word measure.
There is also the voiced post-palatal 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 prototypical voiced velar fricative. The International Phonetic Alphabet does not have a separate symbol for that sound, but it can be transcribed as ⟨ʝ̠⟩, ⟨ʝ˗⟩ (both symbols denote a retracted ⟨ʝ⟩), ⟨ɣ̟⟩ or ⟨ɣ˖⟩ (both symbols denote an advanced ⟨ɣ⟩). The equivalent X-SAMPA symbols are j\_- and G_+, respectively.
Especially in broad transcription, the voiced post-palatal fricative may be transcribed as a palatalized voiced velar fricative (⟨ɣʲ⟩ in the IPA, G' or G_j in X-SAMPA).

## Features

Features of the voiced palatal fricative:
* Its manner of articulation is fricative, which means it is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
* Its place of articulation is palatal, which means it is articulated with the middle or back part of the tongue raised to the hard palate. The otherwise identical post-palatal variant is articulated slightly behind the hard palate, making it sound slightly closer to the velar [ɣ].
* 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.
* Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

## Occurrence
### Palatal

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Asturian | Asturian | frayar | [fɾäˈʝär] | 'to destroy' | |
| Burmese | Burmese | | | | Allophone of /j/, particularly word initially. |
| Catalan | Majorcan | figuera | [fiˈʝeɾə] | 'fig tree' | Occurs in complementary distribution with [ɟ]. Corresponds to [ɣ] in other varieties. See Catalan phonology |
| Danish | Standard | talg | [ˈtʰælˀʝ] | 'tallow' | Possible word-final allophone of /j/ when it occurs after /l/. See Danish phonology |
| Dutch | Standard | ja | [ʝaː] | 'yes' | Frequent allophone of /j/, especially in emphatic speech. See Dutch phonology |
| German | Standard | Jacke | [ˈʝäkə] | 'jacket' | Most often transcribed in IPA with ⟨j⟩; also described as an approximant [j] and a sound variable between a fricative and an approximant. See Standard German phonology |
| Greek | Standard | γεια | [ʝɐ] | 'hi' |
| Greek | Cypriot | ελιά | [e̞ˈʝːɐ] | 'olive' | Allophone of /ʎ/ |
| Hungarian | Hungarian | dobj be | [dobʝ bɛ] | 'throw in' | An allophone of /j/. See Hungarian phonology |
| Irish | Irish | an ghrian | [ənʲ ˈʝɾʲiən̪ˠ] | 'the sun' | See Irish phonology |
| Italian | Southern dialects | figlio | [ˈfiʝːo] | 'son' | Corresponds to /ʎ/ in standard Italian. See Italian phonology |
| Kabyle | Kabyle | cceǥ | [ʃʃəʝ] | 'to slip' | |
| Korean | Korean | 사향노루 / sahyangnoru | [sɐʝɐŋnoɾu] | 'Siberian musk deer' | The sound is sometimes heard by people when /h/ is between voiced and combined with /i/, /t/ and /j/, See Korean phonology |
| Lithuanian | Lithuanian | ji | [ʝɪ] | 'she' | Most often transcribed in IPA with ⟨j⟩; also described as an approximant [j]. See Lithuanian phonology |
| Margi | Margi | | | | Contrasts /ɟ, ᶮɟ, ç, ʝ, j, j̰, ɣ/. |
| Mapudungun | Mapudungun | kayu | [kɜˈʝʊ] | 'six' | This phoneme corresponds to the letter Y in Mapudungün. See Mapuche language |
| Norwegian | Urban East | gi | [ʝiː] | 'to give' | Allophone of /j/, especially before and after close vowels and in energetic speech. See Norwegian phonology |
| Pashto | Ghilji dialect | موږ | [muʝ] | 'we' | |
| Pashto | Wardak dialect | موږ | [muʝ] | 'we' | |
| Ripuarian | Ripuarian | zeije | [ˈt͡sɛʝə] | 'to show' | |
| Russian | Russian | яма | [ˈʝämə] | 'pit' | Allophone of /j/ in emphatic speech. See Russian phonology |
| Scottish Gaelic | Scottish Gaelic | dhiubh | [ʝu] | 'of them' | Weak fricative; merges with [j] in some dialects. See Scottish Gaelic phonology |
| Spanish | Spanish | sayo | [ˈsäʝo̞] | 'smock' | May also be represented by ⟨ll⟩ in many dialects. See Spanish phonology and Yeísmo |
| Swedish | Swedish | jord | | 'soil' | Allophone of /j/. See Swedish phonology |
| Vietnamese | Middle Vietnamese | Gió [𩙋] | [ʝɔ$^{B1}$] (Tonkinese dialect) | 'wind' | See Middle Vietnamese phonology |

### Post-palatal

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Belarusian | Belarusian | геаграфія | [ɣ̟e.äˈɣɾäfʲijä] | 'geography' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɣʲ⟩. See Belarusian phonology |
| Dutch | Standard Belgian | gaan | [ɣ̟aːn] | 'to go' | May be velar [ɣ] instead. See Dutch phonology |
| Dutch | Southern accents | gaan | [ɣ̟aːn] | 'to go' | May be velar [ɣ] instead. See Dutch phonology |
| German | Standard | Riese | [ˈɣ̟iːzə] | 'giant' | Allophone of the fricative /ʁ/ before and after front vowels. See Standard German phonology |
| Greek | Standard Modern | γένος | | 'gender' | See Modern Greek phonology |
| Limburgish | Weert dialect | gèr | [ɣ̟ɛ̈ːʀ̝̊] | 'gladly' | Allophone of /ɣ/ before and after front vowels. See Weert dialect phonology |
| Lithuanian | Lithuanian | Hiustonas | [ˈɣ̟ʊs̪t̪ɔn̪ɐs̪] | 'Houston' | Very rare; typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɣʲ⟩. See Lithuanian phonology |
| Russian | Standard | других гимнов | [d̪rʊˈɡ̟ɪɣ̟ ˈɡ̟imn̪əf] | 'of other anthems' | Allophone of /x/ before voiced soft consonants; typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɣʲ⟩. The example also illustrates [ɡ̟]. See Russian phonology |
| Russian | Southern | гимн | [ɣ̟imn̪] | 'anthem' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɣʲ⟩; corresponds to [ɡʲ] in standard Russian. See Russian phonology |
| Scottish Gaelic | Scottish Gaelic | seadh | [ʃɤɣ̟] | 'yes, indeed' | Allophone of /ɣ/ after /ɤ/ |

### Variable

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Mapudungun | Mapudungun | | | | Allophone of /ɣ/ before the front vowels /ɪ, e/. |