palatal (adj.)

A term used in the PHONETIC classification of speech sounds on the basis of their PLACE OF ARTICULATION: it refers to a sound made when the FRONT of the TONGUE is in contact with or approaches the hard PALATE. Slavic languages usually illustrate a range of palatal sounds; in German, ich (‘I’) exemplifies a VOICELESS palatal [ç]; in English, palatal sounds are heard only in restricted contexts, as variants of a PHONEME, e.g. /k/ is normally described as VELAR, but the k in such words as keep is often quite palatal in its articulation, because of the influence of the following FRONT VOWEL. One may also hear palatal GLIDES in such words as cute [kj-] or huge [ç]. ‘Palatal’ is sometimes used with reference to vowels or SEMI-VOWELS articulated in the hard-palate area (front CLOSE vowels), as in the [i:] of seat or the initial sound of yet [j], formerly [j]; but the commoner use is in relation to CONSONANTS.