Palatal fricative

rdf:langString Palatal fricative

rdf:langString A palatal fricative is a type of fricative consonant that is also a palatal consonant. The two main types of palatal fricatives are: * voiceless palatal fricative (ç) * voiced palatal fricative ([ʝ]) They are produced with the friction of the dorsum of the tongue against the hard palate. In some dialects of English, [ç] acts as an allophone for /hj/, and some loanwords may start with [ʝ]. Phonemic palatal fricatives are decently rare, especially the voiced palatal fricative. They occur more often as allophones, as in German's velar fricatives next to /i/ or /y/, or as alternative realizations of the voiced palatal approximant.