Palatal consonant

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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.

Warning: the IPA symbols are commonly used, not for palatal stops, but for the postalveolar affricates [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 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 [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:

IPA Description Example
Language Orthography IPA Meaning
palatal nasal French agneau ɲjo] [[wiktionary:lamb>lamb]]
voiceless palatal plosive Hungarian hattyú cːuː] [[wiktionary:swan>swan]]
voiced palatal plosive Margi aɗí aɗí] [[wiktionary:hump>hump]] of a [[wiktionary:cow|cow]]
voiceless palatal fricative German nicht çt] [[wiktionary:not>not]]
voiced palatal fricative Spanish yema ema] [[wiktionary:egg>egg]] [[wiktionary:yolk|yolk]]
palatal approximant English yes ɛs] [[wiktionary:yes>yes]]
lateral palatal approximant Italian gli i] [[wiktionary:the>the]] (masculine plural)
voiced palatal implosive

IPA	Description	Example
IPA	Description	Language	Orthography	IPA	Meaning
	palatal nasal	French	agneau	ɲjo]	[[wiktionary:lamb>lamb]]
	voiceless palatal plosive	Hungarian	hattyú	cːuː]	[[wiktionary:swan>swan]]
	voiced palatal plosive	Margi	aɗí	aɗí]	[[wiktionary:hump>hump]] of a [[wiktionary:cow\|cow]]
	voiceless palatal fricative	German	nicht	çt]	[[wiktionary:not>not]]
	voiced palatal fricative	Spanish	yema	ema]	[[wiktionary:egg>egg]] [[wiktionary:yolk\|yolk]]
	palatal approximant	English	yes	ɛs]	[[wiktionary:yes>yes]]
	lateral palatal approximant	Italian	gli	i]	[[wiktionary:the>the]] (masculine plural)
	voiced palatal implosive

Palatal consonant

See also