/ˈaɪ.pə/
jː is the IPA symbol for the Voiced Palatal Approximant, a voiced palatal approximant consonant. It appears in 17 of 500 languages (3% cross-linguistic frequency).
jː

Voiced Palatal Approximant

Consonant · voiced

No audio available for this symbol
Languages using this sound 17 / 500
Cross-linguistic frequency 3%

One of the rarer sounds in human language.

Type consonant

Articulation

Every speech sound is defined by three properties: its class (consonant, vowel, or tone), its place of articulation (where in the vocal tract it is formed — lips, teeth, palate, etc.), its manner (how airflow is controlled — stopped, funneled into a fricative, channeled through the nose), and its voicing (whether the vocal cords vibrate during production).

Class
Consonant
Voicing
Voiced
Place
Palatal
Manner
Approximant

Languages using this sound

This sound appears in 17 of the 500 languages in our database. Languages that use a sound only in loanwords or in rare, specialized contexts are marked as marginal (*) — the sound exists but is not a core part of the phonological system. Click any language to view its full sound inventory.

Zuni Nara Maasai Mahas-Fiyadikka Songhai Kadugli (Miri) Maltese Moroccan Arabic Hindi-Urdu Egyptian Arabic Amharic Hungarian Tigrinya Tashlhiyt Berber Kurukh Tigre Chuvash

Related sounds

j Voiced Palatal Approximant w Voiced Bilabial Approximant k̟ Voiceless Palatal Stop k̟ʲʰ Voiceless Palatal Stop k̟ʲʼ Voiceless Palatal Stop x̟ʲ Voiceless Palatal Fricative ɡ̟ʲ Voiced Palatal Stop ɣ̟ʲ Voiced Palatal Fricative