I know that proto-Semitic /g/ (Hebrew gimel) shows up in some languages and dialects as /j/, but does anyone know the explanation for how it gets to these two pronunciations? I mean, at first glance it seems like an intuitive association from an English-speaker perspective. Our letter "g" performs double-duty. But when you stop and think about it, the two sounds are quite different and don't seem to be easily connected. The only thing I can think of is that Greek gamma creeps forward to the point where it becomes /y/ before /i/. But it still seems like a long way for one sound to march. I wonder if there's a simpler explanation.
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