Palatal

A palatal segment is a segment that is articulated with the front part of the tongue against the hard palate.

Examples

Examples of palatals are the sound [ɳ] (written ñ) in Spanish niño 'child', and the sound [c] (written ty) in Hungarian atya 'father'.

Origin

Derived from palate (borrowed into English from Latin palatum), and attested since the 17th century.

Comments

"Palatal" is a term also used for vowels: front vowels are palatal, as opposed to back vowels, which are velar.

Other languages

• German Palatal (de)