Iotation
form of palatalization in Slavic languages; occurs when a consonant comes into contact with /j/ from the succeeding morpheme
In Slavic languages, iotation ( yoh-TAY-shən or EYE-oh-TAY-shən) is a form of palatalization that occurs when a consonant comes into contact with the palatal approximant /j/ from the succeeding phoneme. The /j/ is represented by iota (ι) in the early Cyrillic alphabet and the Greek alphabet on which it is based. For example, ni in English onion has the sound of iotated n. Iotation is a phenomenon distinct from Slavic first palatalization in which only the front vowels are involved, but the final result is similar.
Sound change
Iotation occurs when a labial (/m/, /b/), dental (/n/, /s/, /l/) or velar (/k/, /ɡ/, /x/) consonant comes into contact with an iotated vowel, i.e. one preceded by a palatal glide /j/. As a result, the consonant becomes partially or completely palatalized. In many Slavic languages, iotated consonants are called "soft" and the process of iotation is called "softening".
Iotation can result in a partial palatalization so the centre of the tongue is raised during, and sometimes after, the articulation of the consonant. There can also be a complete sound change to a palatal or alveolo-palatal consonant.
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This entry incorporates text from “Iotation” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.