Re: Rounded /j/?

FFlores wrote:

>Is there any natlang with a rounded palatal approximant?
>I mean, the * in the series /i, u, y/ :: /j, w, */.
>I know the sound is perfectly possible, but I wonder
>if this sound is an independent phoneme in any natlang.
Yes, I can name French and Abkhaz off the top of the head.  In French,
this consonant is found in _ui_-pairs: _huit_, _puis_, etc.  In Abkhaz,
this is simply a palatized /w/, and is written by a funny addition to
the Cyrillic alphabet: an <O> that makes a loop inside and extends
downward, like a Latin capital <Q>.

Danny
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