Editing Front vowel (section)

==Effect on preceding consonant==
{{main|Palatalization (sound change)}}
In the history of many languages, for example [[History of French|French]] and [[Japanese language|Japanese]], front vowels have altered preceding [[velar consonant|velar]] or [[alveolar consonant]]s, bringing their [[place of articulation]] towards [[palatal consonant|palatal]] or [[postalveolar]]. This change can be [[allophone|allophonic variation]], or it can have become [[phonemic]].

This historical palatalization is reflected in the [[orthography|orthographies]] of several European languages, including the {{angbr|c}} and {{angbr|g}} of almost all [[Romance languages]], the {{angbr|k}} and {{angbr|g}} in [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], [[Swedish language|Swedish]], [[Faroese language|Faroese]] and [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]], and the {{angbr|κ}}, {{angbr|γ}} and {{angbr|χ}} in [[modern Greek|Greek]]. [[English language|English]] follows the French pattern, but without as much regularity.
However, for native or early borrowed words affected by palatalization, English has generally altered the spelling after the pronunciation (Examples include ''cheap, church, cheese, churn'' from {{IPA|/*k/}}, and ''yell, yarn, yearn, yeast'' from {{IPA|/*ɡ/}}.)
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;"
|-
!
!Before back vowel: hard
!Before front vowel: soft
|-
!English {{angbr|C}}
|c'''a'''ll {{IPAc-en|k|ɔː|l}}
|c'''e'''ll {{IPAc-en|s|ɛ|l}}
|-
!English {{angbr|G}}
|g'''a'''ll {{IPAc-en|ɡ|ɔː|l}}
|g'''e'''l {{IPAc-en|dʒ|ɛ|l}}
|-
!French {{angbr|C}}
|{{lang|fr|C'''a'''lais|italics=no}} {{IPA|fr|kalɛ||fr-Calais.ogg}}
|{{lang|fr|c'''e'''la|italics=no}} {{IPA|fr|səla||fr-cela.ogg}}
|-
!French {{angbr|G}}
|{{lang|fr|g'''a'''re|italics=no}} {{IPA|fr|ɡaʁ||fr-gare.ogg}}
|{{lang|fr|g'''e'''l|italics=no}} {{IPA|fr|ʒɛl||fr-gel.ogg}}
|-
!Greek {{angbr|Γ}}
|{{lang|el|γ'''ά'''ιδαρος}} {{IPA|el|ˈɣai̯ðaros||EL-γάιδαρος.ogg}}
|{{lang|el|γ'''η'''}} {{IPA|el|ʝi||el-γη.ogg}}
|-
!Greek {{angbr|Χ}}
|{{lang|el|Χ'''α'''νιά}} {{IPA|el|xaˈɲa||el-Χανιά.ogg}}
|{{lang|el|χ'''αί'''ρετε}} {{IPA|el|ˈçerete||EL-χαίρετε.ogg}}
|-
!Italian {{angbr|C}}
|{{lang|it|c'''a'''ro|italics=no}} {{IPA|it|ˈkaːro||it-caro.ogg}}
|{{lang|it|c'''i'''ttà|italics=no}} {{IPA|it|tʃitˈta||it-città.ogg}}
|-
!Italian {{angbr|G}}
|{{lang|it|g'''a'''tto|italics=no}} {{IPA|it|ˈɡatto||it-gatto.ogg}}
|{{lang|it|g'''e'''nte|italics=no}} {{IPA|it|ˈdʒɛnte||it-gente.ogg}}
|-
!Italian {{angbr|SC}}
|{{lang|it|sc'''u'''sa|italics=no}} {{IPA|it|ˈskuːza||it-scusa.ogg}}
|{{lang|it|pesc'''e'''|italics=no}} {{IPA|it|ˈpeʃʃe||it-pesce.ogg}}
|-
!Japanese {{angbr|S}}
|{{Transliteration|ja|s'''ū'''doku|italics=no}} {{IPA|ja|sɯꜜːdokɯ||ja-Sudoku.oga}}
|{{Transliteration|ja|sh'''i'''itake|italics=no}} {{IPA|ja|ɕiꜜːtake||ja-Shiitake.oga}}{{efn|name=rōmaji|Palatalization of {{IPA|/si/}}, {{IPA|/ti/}} etc. is shown in spelling in [[Hepburn romanization]].}}
|-
!Japanese {{angbr|T}}
|{{Transliteration|ja|at'''a'''t'''a'''kai|italics=no}} {{IPA|ja|atatakaꜜi||ja-atatakai.ogg}}
|{{Transliteration|ja|dotch'''i'''|italics=no}} {{IPA|ja|dotꜜtɕi||ja-docchi-which.ogg}}{{efn|name=rōmaji}}
|-
!Swedish {{angbr|K}}
|{{lang|sv|k'''a'''rta|italics=no}} {{IPA|sv|ˈkɑ̂ːʈa||sv-karta.ogg}}
|{{lang|sv|k'''ä'''r|italics=no}} {{IPA|sv|ɕæːr||sv-kär.ogg}}
|-
!Swedish {{angbr|G}}
|{{lang|sv|g'''o'''d|italics=no}} {{IPA|sv|ɡuːd||sv-god.ogg}}
|{{lang|sv|g'''ö'''ra|italics=no}} {{IPA|sv|ˈjœ̂ːra||sv-göra.ogg}}
|-
!Swedish {{angbr|SK}}
|{{lang|sv|sk'''a'''l|italics=no}} {{IPA|sv|skɑːl||sv-skal.ogg}}
|{{lang|sv|sk'''ä'''lla|italics=no}} {{IPA|sv|ˈɧɛ̂lːa||sv-skälla.ogg}}
|}