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Voiceless palatal fricative

Voiceless palatal fricative
ç
IPA number138
Audio sample
Encoding
Entity (decimal)ç
Unicode (hex)U+00E7
X-SAMPAC
Braille⠖ (braille pattern dots-235)⠉ (braille pattern dots-14)

The voiceless palatal fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ç⟩. It is the non-sibilant equivalent of the voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative.

Palatal fricatives are relatively rare phonemes, and only 5% of the world's languages have /ç/ as a phoneme.[1] The sound further occurs as an allophone of /x/ (e.g. in German or Greek), or, in other languages, of /h/ in the vicinity of front vowels.

Features

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Voiceless palatal fricative (ç)

Features of the voiceless 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.
  • Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords. In some languages the vocal cords are actively separated, so it is always voiceless; in others the cords are lax, so that it may take on the voicing of adjacent sounds.
  • It is an oral consonant, which means that air is exclusively allowed to escape through the mouth.
  • 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

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Palatal

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Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Assamese সীমা / xima [ç̠ima] 'limit/border' Pre Palatal
Azerbaijani[2] Some dialects dərdləşmək [dætl̥æʃˈmæç̠] 'to talk heart to heart' Allophone of /k/.
Blackfoot ᖱᑊᖽᒧᐧᖿ / ihkitsíkaa [ɪçkit͡síkaː] 'Seven' Allophone of /x/.
Chinese Taizhou dialect [çi] 'to play' Corresponds to alveolo-palatal /ɕ/ in other Wu dialects.
Meixian dialect [çʲɔŋ˦] 'fragrant' Corresponds to palatalized fricative /hj/ in romanised as "hi-" or "hy-" Hakka dialect writing.
Danish Standard[3] pjaske [ˈpçæskə] 'splash' May be alveolo-palatal [ɕ] instead.[3] Before /j/, aspiration of /p, t, k/ is realized as devoicing and fortition of /j/.[3] Note, however, that the sequence /tj/ is normally realized as an affricate [t͡ɕ].[4] See Danish phonology
Dutch Standard Northern[5] wiegje [ˈʋiçjə] 'crib' Allophone of /x/ before /j/ for some speakers.[5] See Dutch phonology
English Australian[6] hue [çʉː] 'hue' Phonetic realization of the sequence /hj/.[6][7][8] See Australian English phonology and English phonology
British[7][8]
Scouse[9] like [laɪ̯ç] 'like' Allophone of /k/; ranges from palatal to uvular, depending on the preceding vowel.[9] See English phonology
Estonian vihm [viçm] 'rain' Allophone of /h/. See Estonian phonology
Finnish vihko [ʋiçko̞] 'notebook' Allophone of /h/. See Finnish phonology
French Parisian[10] merci [mɛʁ̥ˈsi̥ç] 'thank you' The close vowels /i, y, u/ and the mid front /e, ɛ/ at the end of utterances can be devoiced.[10] See French phonology
German nicht [nɪçt] 'not' Traditionally allophone of /x/, or vice versa, but phonemic for some speakers who have both /aːx/ and /aːç/ (< /aʁç/). See Standard German phonology.
Haida xíl [çɪ́l] 'leaf'
Hmong White (Dawb) 𖬗𖬰𖬧𖬰 / xya [ça˧] 'seven' Corresponds to alveolo-palatal /ɕ/ in Dananshan dialect
Green (Njua)
Hungarian[11] kapj [ˈkɒpç] 'get' (imperative) Allophone of /j/ between a voiceless obstruent and a word boundary. See Hungarian phonology
Icelandic hérna [ˈçɛ(ɾ)tnä] 'here' Allophone of /h/ near /j/ and /i/.[12] See Icelandic phonology
Irish a Sheáin çaːnʲ] 'John' (voc.) See Irish phonology
Jalapa Mazatec[13] [example needed] Described as an approximant. Contrasts with plain voiced /j/ and glottalized voiced /ȷ̃/.[13]
Japanese[14] / hi [çi] 'day' Allophone of /h/ before /i/ and /j/. See Japanese phonology
Kabyle til [çtil] 'to measure'
Korean / him [çim] 'strength' Allophone of /h/ word-initially before /i/ and /j/. See Korean phonology
Minangkabau Mukomuko tangih [taŋiç] 'cry' Allophone of /h/ after /i/ and /j/ in coda.
Moksha шалхка [ʃalçka] 'nose'
Norwegian Urban East[15] kjerne [ˈçæ̂ːɳə̌] 'core' Often alveolo-palatal [ɕ] instead; younger speakers in Bergen, Stavanger and Oslo merge it with /ʂ/.[15] See Norwegian phonology
Pashto Ghilji dialect[16] پښه [pça] 'foot' See Pashto phonology
Wardak dialect
Romanian Standard Rohia [r̠̊o̞ˈçijä] 'Rohia' Allophone of /h/ before /i/. Typically transcribed with [hʲ]. See Romanian phonology
Russian Standard[17] твёрдый / tvjordyj [ˈt̪ʋʲɵrd̪ɨ̞ç] 'hard' Possible realization of /j/.[17] See Russian phonology
Scottish Gaelic[18] eich [eç] 'horses' Slender allophone of /x/. See Scottish Gaelic phonology and orthography
Sicilian ciumi [ˈçuːmɪ] 'river' Evolved from the Latin /fl/ nexus. Realized as [t͡ʃ] when preceded by a consonant. See Sicilian phonology
Spanish Chilean[19] mujer [muˈçe̞ɾ] 'woman' Allophone of /x/ before front vowels. See Spanish phonology
Turkish[20] zihin [ziˈçin] 'intellect' Allophone of /h/.[20] See Turkish phonology
Uzbek maktab [mɑçtɑb] 'school' Occurs when /k/ comes before /t/ and /b/ sounds.
Walloon texhe [tɛç] 'to knit' ⟨xh⟩ spelling proper in Common Walloon, in the Feller system it would be written ⟨hy⟩
Welsh hiaith [çaɪ̯θ] 'language' Occurs in words where /h/ comes before /j/ due to h-prothesis of the original word, i.e. /jaɪ̯θ/ iaith 'language' becomes ei hiaith 'her language', resulting in /j/ i/ç/ hi.[21] See Welsh phonology

Post-palatal

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Voiceless post-palatal fricative
ç˗
Audio sample

There is also the voiceless post-palatal fricative[22] in some languages, which is articulated slightly farther back compared with the place of articulation of the prototypical voiceless palatal fricative, though not as back as the prototypical voiceless velar fricative. The International Phonetic Alphabet does not have a separate symbol for that sound, though it can be transcribed as ⟨ç̠⟩, ⟨ç˗⟩ (both symbols denote a retractedç⟩) or ⟨⟩ (advancedx⟩).

Especially in broad transcription, the voiceless post-palatal fricative may be transcribed as a palatalized voiceless velar fricative, ⟨⟩.

Features: The otherwise identical post-palatal variant is articulated slightly behind the hard palate, making it sound slightly closer to the velar [x].

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Belarusian глухі / hluchí [ɣuɫˈx̟i] 'deaf' Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨⟩. See Belarusian phonology
Dutch Standard Belgian[5] acht [ˈax̟t] 'eight' May be velar [x] instead.[5] See Dutch phonology
Southern accents[5]
Greek[23] ψυχή / psychí [ps̠iˈç̠i] 'soul' See Modern Greek phonology
Limburgish Weert dialect[24] ich [ɪ̞x̟] 'I' Allophone of /x/ before and after front vowels.[24] See Weert dialect phonology
Lithuanian[25][26] chemija [ˈx̟ɛmija] 'chemistry' Very rare;[27] typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨⟩. See Lithuanian phonology
Russian Standard[17] хинди / chindi [ˈx̟inʲdʲɪ] 'Hindi' Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨⟩. See Russian phonology
Spanish mujer [muˈx̟e̞ɾ] 'woman' Allophone of /x/ before front vowels.[28] See Spanish phonology
Ukrainian алхімія / alchimija [ɐl̞ʲˈx̟imʲijɐ] 'alchemy' Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨⟩. See Ukrainian phonology
Uzbek[29] xurmo [x̟urmɒ] 'date palm' Weakly fricated; occurs word-initially and pre-consonantally, otherwise it is post-velar [].[29]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), pp. 167–168.
  2. ^ Damirchizadeh (1972), p. 96.
  3. ^ a b c Basbøll (2005), pp. 65–66.
  4. ^ Grønnum (2005), p. 148.
  5. ^ a b c d e Collins & Mees (2003), p. 191.
  6. ^ a b Cox & Fletcher (2017), p. 159.
  7. ^ a b Roach (2009), p. 43.
  8. ^ a b Wells, John C (2009-01-29), "A huge query", John Wells's phonetic blog, retrieved 2016-03-13
  9. ^ a b Watson (2007), p. 353.
  10. ^ a b Fagyal & Moisset (1999).
  11. ^ Siptár & Törkenczy (2007), p. 205.
  12. ^ Rögnvaldsson (2017), p. 33, 37.
  13. ^ a b Silverman et al. (1995), p. 83.
  14. ^ Okada (1999), p. 118.
  15. ^ a b Kristoffersen (2000), p. 23.
  16. ^ Henderson (1983), p. 595.
  17. ^ a b c Yanushevskaya & Bunčić (2015), p. 223.
  18. ^ Oftedal (1956), pp. 113–4.
  19. ^ Palatal phenomena in Spanish phonology Archived 2021-11-23 at the Wayback Machine Page 113
  20. ^ a b Göksel & Kerslake (2005:6)
  21. ^ Ball & Watkins (1993), pp. 300–301.
  22. ^ 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".
  23. ^ Arvaniti (2007), p. 20.
  24. ^ a b Heijmans & Gussenhoven (1998), p. 108.
  25. ^ Mathiassen (1996), pp. 22–23).
  26. ^ Ambrazas et al. (1997), p. 36.
  27. ^ Ambrazas et al. (1997), p. 35.
  28. ^ Canellada & Madsen (1987), p. 21.
  29. ^ a b Sjoberg (1963), p. 11.

References

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