The symbol ç is the letter c with a cedilla (◌̧), as used to spell French and Portuguese words such as façade and ação.

Some scholars also posit the voiceless palatal approximant distinct from the fricative, found in a few spoken languages.

The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ j̊ ⟩, the voiceless homologue of the voiced palatal approximant.

The palatal approximant can in many cases be considered the semivocalic equivalent of the voiceless variant of the close front unrounded vowel [i̥].

The sound is essentially an Australian English ⟨y⟩ (as in year) pronounced strictly without vibration of the vocal cords.