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    The palatal approximant /j/
    quickinfo

    Features
    A possible feature specification of /j/ is +high, -low, +tense, -round, -back.

    /j/ as an alternant of /i/
    Although it is usually seen as an independent phoneme, there are some reasons for analysing [j] as a realization of /i/ in consonantal position. One such reason is that unstressed /i/ in hiatus position can be optionally realized as a [j]: /piano/ piano can be pronounced as [pjano]. Secondly, [j] can never occur before [i]; there is no word starting with [ji] in Dutch, which might be due to some OCP-type of avoidance. Thirdly, also in hiatus position, a [j] is typically inserted after an /i/, so that an alternative realization of /piano/ is [pijano]. This argument is less strong than the other two, because [j] is also inserted after /e/ and sometimes after /y/: theater /teatər/ [tejatər] theatre, duo /dyo/ [dyjo] duo.

    Phonotactic behaviour
    /j/ can occur in onsets (jas coat, ja yes), provided the nucleus is not an [i]. It occurs as the second member of an onset only in loanwords and foreign names, which seem always clearly recognizable as such (fjord, Pjotr) or, after t, in onomatopoeia (tjilpen to chirp). It can occur after long back vowels in syllable coda (groei grow, haai shark) (for more detail see below).

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    [+]Articulatory information

    Dutch /j/ is a voicedpalatalapproximant.

    Palatal
    Speech sounds produced at palatal place of articulation, between alveolar and velar, so involving a constriction between the tongue body and the hard palate. See human speech organs.

    Approximant
    Consonant involving free airflow through a channel wide enough to preclude frication. See the human speech organs.

    Figure 1: The human speech organs
    [click image to enlarge]

    [+]Acoustic information

    Palatal

    • in obstruents, noise or noise bursts characterised by a centre of gravity around 4700 Hz. Second formant transitions into vowels come from around 2000 Hz, and goes in a downward direction for most vowels. F3 is lower than in alveolars.

    • in sonorants, formant structure characterised by a relatively high F2.

    Approximant
    • consonant involving free airflow through a channel wide enough to preclude turbulent noise.

    Dutch /j/ is a voicedpalatalapproximant. It is characterised by clearly visible formant structure, with a relatively low F1 and high F2. It is similar to the vowel /i/ in this respect.

    [+]Examples
    Table 1: Soundfiles, waveforms and spectrograms of the above sound files, with indications of the relevant acoustic parameters of Northern Standard Dutch /j/
    wordgroup phonological context sound waveform/spectrogramme
    (...) waar ik 'ja zei (...) where I said yes word-initial
    [click image to enlarge]
    af te draaien turning off intervocalic
    [click image to enlarge]
    deze is heel mooi this one is very beautiful word-final
    [click image to enlarge]
    Table 2: Soundfiles, waveforms and spectrograms of the above sound files, with indications of the relevant acoustic parameters of Southern Standard Dutch /j/
    wordgroup phonological context sound waveform/spectrogramme
    ja yes word-initial
    [click image to enlarge]
    draaien rond de zon turn around the sun intervocalic
    [click image to enlarge]
    wat een mooi huis what a beautiful house word-final
    [click image to enlarge]
    [+]More detail

    There is some debate as to whether the word-final sound in words such as haai [haj] shark, mooi [moj] beautiful, boei [buj] shackle, buoy is in fact a /j/ consonant (Gussenhoven and Broeders 1976: 126; Booij 1995: 7) or a realisation of a vowel /i/(Mees and Collins 1982). Phonetically and phonologically, there are good reasons to assume it is in fact /j/ (see Zonneveld and Trommelen 1980; Maddieson and Ladefoged 1996).

    References
    • Booij, Geert1995The phonology of DutchOxfordOxford University Press
    • Gussenhoven, Carlos & Broeders, Antonius P.A1976A pronunciation of ENglish: A course for Dutch learnersGroningenWolters-Noordhoff-Longman
    • Maddieson, Ian & Ladefoged, Peter1996The sounds of the world's languagesOxford/CambridgeBlackwell Publishers
    • Mees, Inge & Collins, Beverley1982A phonetic description of the consonant system of Standard Dutch (ABN)Journal of the International Phonetic Association122-12
    • Zonneveld, Wim & Trommelen, Mieke1980Egg, onion, ouch! On the representation of Dutch diphthongsSpringer Netherlands
    About this article
    Author(s): Koen Sebregts, Marc van Oostendorp
    Category: Dutch Phonology
    Keywords: phoneticsconsonantapproximant
    Version: 1.0, December 2015
    Version history:
    version editor(s) date remarks
    1.0 Koen Sebregts, Marc van Oostendorp December 2015
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