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It is unusual for a language to contrast a semivowel and a diphthong containing an equivalent vowel, [citation needed] but Romanian contrasts the diphthong /e̯a/ with /ja/, a perceptually similar approximant-vowel sequence. The diphthong is analyzed as a single segment, and the approximant-vowel sequence is analyzed as two separate segments.
[ʝ̞] and [j] are two different segments, but they have to be labelled as voiced palatal approximant consonants. I think that the former is a real consonant, whereas the latter is a semi-consonant, as it has traditionally been called in Spanish, or a semi-vowel, if preferred. The IPA, though, classifies it as a consonant."
Before a vowel, approximant /j, w/, or voiceless fricative [ɸ, s, ɕ, ç, h], it is a nasalized vowel or moraic semivowel that can be broadly transcribed as [ɰ̃] (its specific quality depends on the surrounding sounds). [62]
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.
It is not often clear, however, whether such sequences involve a semivowel (a consonant) or a diphthong (a vowel), and in many cases, it may not be a meaningful distinction. Although many languages have central vowels [ɨ, ʉ] , which lie between back/velar [ɯ, u] and front/palatal [i, y] , there are few cases of a corresponding approximant ...
The most common type of palatal consonant is the extremely common approximant [j], which ranks among the ten most common sounds in the world's languages. [1] The nasal [ɲ] is also common, occurring in around 35 percent of the world's languages, [2] in most of which its equivalent obstruent is not the stop [c], but the affricate [].
For instance, the letter Y stands for the consonant/semi-vowel /j/ in yoke, the vowel /ɪ/ in myth, the vowel /i/ in funny, the diphthong /aɪ/ in sky, and forms several digraphs for other diphthongs, such as say, boy, key. Similarly, R commonly indicates or modifies a vowel in non-rhotic accents.
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\.