Palatal consonant

Palatal consonant

Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). Consonants with the tip of the tongue curled back against the palate are called retroflex.

The most common type of palatal consonant is the extremely common approximant IPA| [j] , which ranks as overall, among the ten most common sounds in the world's languages. The nasal IPA|ɲ is also common, occurring in around 35 percent of the world's languages [Ian Maddieson (with a chapter contributed by Sandra Ferrari Disner); Patterns of sounds; Cambridge University Press, 1984. ISBN 0-521-26536-3] , in most of which its equivalent obstruent is not the plosive IPA|c, but the affricate IPA|tʃ. Only a few languages in northern Eurasia, the Americas and central Africa contrast palatal plosives with postalveolar affricates - the only common ones being Hungarian, Czech, Slovak and Albanian.

Warning: the IPA symbols IPA| are commonly used, not for palatal stops, but for the palatalized velar stops IPA| [kʲ, ɡʲ] , or the palatal affricates IPA| [c͡ç, ɟ͡ʝ] , or the alveolopalatal affricates IPA| [t͡ɕ, d͡ʑ] , or even the postalveolar affricates IPA| [t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ] . This is an old IPA tradition. True palatal stops are relatively uncommon, so it is a good idea to verify the pronunciation whenever you see IPA| in the transcription of a language.

Consonants with other primary articulations may be palatalised, that is, accompanied by the raising of the tongue surface towards the hard palate. For example, English IPA| [ʃ] (spelled "sh") has such a palatal component, although its primary articulation involves the tip of the tongue and the upper gum (this type of articulation is called palatoalveolar). The palatal consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:

Notes

References

*SOWL

ee also

* Place of articulation
* List of phonetics topics


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  • Labial-palatal consonant — In phonetics, the labialised palatal approximant is a consonant with two constrictions in the vocal tract: with the tongue on the palate, and rounded at the lips.The labialised palatal approximant identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet …   Wikipedia

  • Alveolo-palatal consonant — In phonetics, alveolo palatal (or alveopalatal) consonants are palatalized postalveolar fricatives, articulated with the blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge, and the body of the tongue raised toward the palate. They are similar to… …   Wikipedia

  • palatal — palatalism, palatality, n. palatally, adv. /pal euh tl/, adj. 1. Anat. of or pertaining to the palate. 2. Phonet. articulated with the blade of the tongue held close to or touching the hard palate. n. 3. Phonet. a palatal consonant. [1820 30; …   Universalium

  • palatal — pal•a•tal [[t]ˈpæl ə tl[/t]] adj. 1) anat. anat. of or pertaining to the palate 2) phn (of a speech sound, esp. a consonant) articulated with the blade of the tongue held close to or touching the hard palate 3) phn a palatal consonant, as the… …   From formal English to slang

  • palatal — /ˈpælətl/ (say paluhtl) –adjective 1. Anatomy of or relating to the palate. 2. Phonetics with the tongue held close to the hard palate. For example, the y of yield is a palatal consonant. –noun 3. Phonetics a palatal sound. {palat(e) …  

  • palatal — 1. adjective /ˈpalətəl,pəˈleɪtəl,ˈpælətl/ a) Articulated at the hard palate. b) Pertaining to the palate. 2. noun /ˈpalətəl,pəˈleɪtəl,ˈpælətl/ A palatal consonant …   Wiktionary

  • Palatal nasal — ɲ Image …   Wikipedia

  • Consonant — Not to be confused with the musical concept of consonance For the alternative rock group, see Consonant (band). Places of articulation Labial Bilabial Labial–velar Labial–coronal Labiodental …   Wikipedia

  • Palatal lateral flap — The palatal lateral flap is a rare type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. There is no symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound. However, the symbol for a palatal lateral approximant may be used… …   Wikipedia

  • Palatal approximant — The palatal approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is IPA|j. The equivalent X SAMPA symbol is j, or equivalently, i ^, and in the… …   Wikipedia

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