| Ipa Symbol: | ç |
| Ipa Number: | 138 |
| Decimal1: | 231 |
| X-Sampa: | C |
| Kirshenbaum: | C |
| Braille: | 235 |
| Braille2: | c |
| Imagefile: | IPA Unicode 0x00E7.svg |
| Above: | Voiceless palatal approximant |
| Ipa Symbol: | j̊ |
| Ipa Number: | 153 402A |
| Decimal1: | 106 |
| Decimal2: | 778 |
| X-Sampa: | j_0 |
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 (IPA|ç), and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is C. It is the non-sibilant equivalent of the voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative.
The symbol ç is the letter c with a cedilla (◌̧), as used to spell French and Portuguese words such as façade and ação. However, the sound represented by the symbol ç in French and Portuguese orthography is not a voiceless palatal fricative; the cedilla, instead, changes the usual pronounced as //k//, the voiceless velar plosive, when (IPA|c) is employed before (IPA|a) or (IPA|o), to pronounced as //s//, the voiceless alveolar fricative.
Palatal fricatives are relatively rare phonemes, and only 5% of the world's languages have pronounced as //ç// as a phoneme. The sound further occurs as an allophone of pronounced as /link/ (e.g. in German or Greek), or, in other languages, of pronounced as /link/ in the vicinity of front vowels.
There is also the voiceless post-palatal fricative[1] 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 (IPA|ç̠), (IPA|ç˗) (both symbols denote a retracted (IPA|ç)) or (IPA|x̟) (advanced (IPA|x)). The equivalent X-SAMPA symbols are C_- and x_+, respectively.
Especially in broad transcription, the voiceless post-palatal fricative may be transcribed as a palatalized voiceless velar fricative ((IPA|xʲ) in the IPA, x' or x_j in X-SAMPA).
Some scholars also posit the voiceless palatal approximant distinct from the fricative, found in a few spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is (IPA| j̊ ), the voiceless homologue of the voiced palatal approximant.
The palatal approximant can in many cases be considered the semivocalic equivalent of the voiceless variant of the close front unrounded vowel pronounced as /[i̥]/. The sound is essentially an Australian English (y) (as in year) pronounced strictly without vibration of the vocal cords.
It is found as a phoneme in Jalapa Mazatec and Washo as well as in Kildin Sami.
Features of the voiceless palatal fricative:
The otherwise identical post-palatal variant is articulated slightly behind the hard palate, making it sound slightly closer to the velar pronounced as /link/.
| Language | Word | Meaning | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assamese: [[Assamese alphabet|সীমা]] / | pronounced as /[ç̠ima]/ | 'limit/border' | ||||
| Some dialects | Azerbaijani: [[Azeri alphabet|çörə'''k''']] | pronounced as /[tʃœˈɾæç]/ | 'bread' | Allophone of pronounced as //c//. | ||
| Siksika: [[Canadian Aboriginal syllabics|ᖱᑊᖽᒧᐧᖿ]] / | pronounced as /[içkitsika]/ | 'Seven' | Allophone of pronounced as //x//. | |||
| [[Chinese characters|嬉]] | pronounced as /[çi]/ | 'to play' | Corresponds to alveolo-palatal pronounced as //ɕ// in other Wu dialects. | |||
| Meixian dialect | [[Chinese characters|香]] | pronounced as /[çʲɔŋ˦]/ | 'fragrant' | Corresponds to palatatized fricative pronounced as //hj// in romanised as "hi-" or "hy-" Hakka dialect writing. | ||
| Standard | [[Chinese characters|票]] / | pronounced as /[pj̊äʊ̯˥˩]/ | 'ticket' | Common allophony of pronounced as //j// after aspirated consonants. Normally transcribed as pronounced as /[pʰj]/. See Standard Chinese phonology | ||
| Standard | Danish: [[Danish alphabet|p'''j'''aske]] | pronounced as /[ˈpçæskə]/ | 'splash' | May be alveolo-palatal pronounced as /link/ instead. Before pronounced as //j//, aspiration of pronounced as //p, t, k// is realized as devoicing and fortition of pronounced as //j//. Note, however, that the sequence pronounced as //tj// is normally realized as an affricate pronounced as /link/. See Danish phonology | ||
| Standard Northern | Dutch; Flemish: [[Dutch orthography|wie'''g'''je]] | pronounced as /[ˈʋiçjə]/ | 'crib' | Allophone of pronounced as //x// before pronounced as //j// for some speakers. See Dutch phonology | ||
| pronounced as /[çʉː]/ | 'hue' | Phonetic realization of the sequence pronounced as //hj//. See Australian English phonology and English phonology | ||||
| British | ||||||
| pronounced as /[laɪ̯ç] / | 'like' | Allophone of pronounced as //k//; ranges from palatal to uvular, depending on the preceding vowel. See English phonology | ||||
| Estonian: [[Estonian orthography|vi'''h'''m]] | pronounced as /[viçm]/ | 'rain' | Allophone of pronounced as //h//. See Estonian phonology | |||
| Finnish: [[Finnish orthography|vi'''h'''ko]] | pronounced as /[ʋiçko̞]/ | 'notebook' | Allophone of pronounced as //h//. See Finnish phonology | |||
| French: [[French orthography|merci]] | pronounced as /[mɛʁˈsi̥ç]/ | 'thank you' | The close vowels pronounced as //i, y, u// and the mid front pronounced as //e, ɛ// at the end of utterances can be devoiced. See French phonology | |||
| German: [[German orthography|ni'''ch'''t]] | 'not' | Traditionally allophone of pronounced as //x//, or vice versa, but phonemic for some speakers who have both pronounced as //aːx// and pronounced as //aːç// (< pronounced as //aʁç//). See Standard German phonology. | ||||
| Haida: '''x'''íl | pronounced as /[çɪ́l]/ | 'leaf' | ||||
| White (Dawb) | Hmong; Mong: '''xy'''a | pronounced as /[ça]/ | 'seven' | Corresponds to alveolo-palatal /ɕ/ in Dananshan dialect | ||
| Green (Njua) | ||||||
| Hungarian: [[Hungarian orthography|kap'''j''']] | pronounced as /[ˈkɒpç]/ | 'get' (imperative) | Allophone of pronounced as //j// between a voiceless obstruent and a word boundary. See Hungarian phonology | |||
| Icelandic: [[Icelandic orthography|'''h'''érna]] | pronounced as /[ˈçɛrtn̥a]/ | 'here' | See Icelandic phonology | |||
| Irish: [[Irish orthography|a '''Sh'''eáin]] | pronounced as /[ə çaːnʲ]/ | 'John' (voc.) | See Irish phonology | |||
| Jalapa Mazatec | Described as an approximant. Contrasts with plain voiced pronounced as //j// and glottalized voiced pronounced as //ȷ̃//. | |||||
| Japanese: [[kanji|人]] / | pronounced as /[çi̥to̞]/ | 'person' | Allophone of pronounced as //h// before pronounced as //i// and pronounced as //j//. See Japanese phonology | |||
| Kabyle: [[Berber Latin alphabet|'''ḵ'''til]] | pronounced as /[çtil]/ | 'to measure' | ||||
| Korean: [[Hangul|힘]] / | pronounced as /[çim]/ | 'strength' | Allophone of pronounced as //h// word-initially before pronounced as //i// and pronounced as //j//. See Korean phonology | |||
| tangih | pronounced as /[taŋiç]/ | 'cry' | Allophone of /h/ after /i/ and /j/ in coda. | |||
| Norwegian: [[Danish and Norwegian alphabet|'''kj'''ekk]] | pronounced as /[çe̞kː]/ | 'handsome' | Often alveolo-palatal pronounced as /link/ instead; younger speakers in Bergen, Stavanger and Oslo merge it with pronounced as /link/. See Norwegian phonology | |||
| Pushto; Pashto: [[Pashto alphabet|{{script/Arabic|پـ'''ښـ'''ه | pronounced as /[pça]/ | 'foot' | See Pashto phonology | |||
| Wardak dialect | ||||||
| Romanian | Standard | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: [[Romanian alphabet|vla'''hi''']] | pronounced as /[vlaç]/ | 'valahians' | Allophone of pronounced as //h// before pronounced as //i//. Typically transcribed with [hʲ]. See Romanian phonology | |
| Standard | Russian: [[Russian alphabet|твёрды'''й''']] / | 'hard' | Possible realization of pronounced as //j//. See Russian phonology | |||
| Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: [[Scottish Gaelic alphabet|ei'''ch''']] | pronounced as /[eç]/ | 'horses' | See Scottish Gaelic phonology and orthography | |||
| Sicilian: [[Sicilian orthography|'''ci'''umi]] | pronounced as /[ˈçumɪ]/ | 'river' | Allophone of pronounced as /link/ and, before atonic syllables, of pronounced as /link/. This is the natural Sicilian evolution of any Latin word containing a〈Latin: {{smallcaps|-FL-〉nexus. See Sicilian phonology | |||
| Chilean[2] | Spanish; Castilian: [[Spanish orthography|mu'''j'''er]] | pronounced as /[muˈçe̞ɾ]/ | 'woman' | Allophone of pronounced as /link/ before front vowels. See Spanish phonology | ||
| Turkish: [[Turkish alphabet|'''h'''ile]] | pronounced as /[çiːʎ̟ɛ]/ | 'trick' | Allophone of pronounced as //h//. See Turkish phonology | |||
| Walloon: [[Walloon alphabet|te'''xh'''e]] | pronounced as /[tɛç]/ | 'to knit' | ||||
| Welsh: [[Welsh alphabet|'''hi'''aith]] | pronounced as /[çaɪ̯θ]/ | 'language' | Occurs in words where pronounced as //h// comes before pronounced as //j// due to h-prothesis of the original word, i.e. pronounced as //jaɪ̯θ// Welsh: iaith becomes Welsh: ei hiaith, resulting in pronounced as //j// Welsh: i → pronounced as //ç// Welsh: hi. See Welsh phonology | |||
| Language | Word | Meaning | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belarusian: [[Belarusian alphabet|глу'''х'''і]] / | [ɣɫuˈxʲi] | 'deaf' | Typically transcribed in IPA with (IPA|xʲ). See Belarusian phonology | |||
| Dutch; Flemish: [[Dutch orthography|a'''ch'''t]] | pronounced as /[ɑx̟t]/ | 'eight' | May be velar pronounced as /link/ instead. See Dutch phonology | |||
| Southern accents | ||||||
| Greek, Modern (1453-);: [[Greek alphabet|ψυ'''χ'''ή]] / | 'soul' | See Modern Greek phonology | ||||
| Weert dialect | Limburgan; Limburger; Limburgish: i'''ch''' | pronounced as /[ɪ̞x̟]/ | 'I' | Allophone of pronounced as //x// before and after front vowels. See Weert dialect phonology | ||
| Lithuanian: [[Lithuanian orthography|'''ch'''emija]] | Very rare; typically transcribed in IPA with (IPA|xʲ). See Lithuanian phonology | |||||
| Standard | Russian: [[Russian alphabet|'''х'''инди]] / | pronounced as /[ˈx̟indʲɪ]/ | 'Hindi' | Typically transcribed in IPA with (IPA|xʲ). See Russian phonology | ||
| Spanish; Castilian: [[Spanish orthography|mu'''j'''er]] | pronounced as /[muˈx̟e̞ɾ]/ | 'woman' | Allophone of pronounced as //x// before front vowels. See Spanish phonology | |||
| Ukrainian: [[Ukrainian alphabet|'''х'''ід]] / | pronounced as /[x̟id̪]/ | 'course' | Typically transcribed in IPA with (IPA|xʲ). See Ukrainian phonology | |||
| Uzbek: [[Uzbek alphabet|'''x'''urmo]] | pronounced as /[x̟urmɒ]/ | 'date palm' | Weakly fricated; occurs word-initially and pre-consonantally, otherwise it is post-velar pronounced as /link/. | |||
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breton | Bothoa dialect | Contrasts voiceless pronounced as //j̊//, plain voiced pronounced as /link/ and nasal voiced pronounced as //ȷ̃// approximants.[3] | ||||
| English | Australian | Allophone of pronounced as //j//. See Australian English phonology[4] [5] | ||||
| Allophone of pronounced as //j//, also can be [{{IPA|ç}}] instead. See New Zealand English phonology[6] | ||||||
| French | Allophone of pronounced as //j//. See French phonology[7] | |||||
| Jalapa Mazatec | Contrasts voiceless pronounced as //j̊//, plain voiced pronounced as /link/ and glottalized voiced pronounced as //ȷ̃// approximants. | |||||
| Japanese | Colloquial, Allophone of pronounced as //j// | |||||
| Scottish Gaelic[8] | Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: [[Scottish Gaelic alphabet|a-muigh]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[əˈmuj̊]/ | 'outside' (directional) | Allophone of pronounced as //j// and pronounced as //ʝ//. See Scottish Gaelic phonology | ||
| Washo | Washo: t'á:'''Y'''aŋi | pronounced as /[ˈtʼaːj̊aŋi]/ | 'he's hunting' | Contrasts voiceless pronounced as //j̊// and voiced pronounced as /link/ approximants. | ||
| Koyukon (Denaakk'e) | Contrasts voiceless pronounced as //j̊// and voiced pronounced as /link/ approximants. | |||||
pronounced as /navigation/