palatal approximant

The nasal palatal approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some oral languages.

As a consonant, it represents the palatal approximant.

The palatal approximant is written y.

Features of the nasal palatal approximant:

For example, the Spanish word ayuda ('help') features a palatal approximant that is pronounced as a fricative in emphatic speech.

The phoneme , usually referred to as 'yumuşak g' ("soft g"), 'ğ' in Turkish orthography, actually represents a rather weak front-velar or palatal approximant between front vowels.

Examples of central consonants are the voiced alveolar fricative (the "z" in the English word "zoo") and the palatal approximant (the "y" in the English word "yes").

In Northeastern Brazil and the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro, the vowels followed by coronal fricatives in the same syllable have a palatal approximant pronounced between both.

In the writing systems used for most of the languages of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, the letter j denotes the palatal approximant, as in German Jahr 'year'.

Depending on phonological rules concerning consecutive vowels or the use of the palatal approximant, "Mary" in these languages is Marija if consecutive vowels are disallowed and otherwise Maria.

Because the name of the letter jay may be confusing when used to refer to this sound, the palatal approximant is sometimes called yod instead, as in the phonological history terms yod-dropping and yod-coalescence.