Palatal fricative
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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])
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They are produced with the friction of the dorsum of the tongue against the hard palate.[1] In some dialects of English, [ç] acts as an allophone for /hj/,[2][3][4] and some loanwords may start with [ʝ].[1]
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.