Palatalization (phonetics)

In phonetics, palatalization is a special way of saying a sound. It happens when a person moves part of their tongue close to the hard roof of their mouth, called the hard palate. When this happens, the sound changes a little bit.

Consonants that are spoken this way are called palatalized. We can write these sounds down using a special symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet. This symbol is a small letter j written above the main letter.

Palatalization is not a main sound difference in English, but it is very important in many other languages. For example, it is used in Slavic languages like Russian and Bulgarian, Uralic languages such as Estonian, Karelian, Veps, Enets and Mansi, and Northwest Caucasian languages like Abkhaz. It is also found in Irish, Lithuanian, Marshallese and Kashmiri.

Types

Palatalization is a way of saying sounds where part of the tongue moves close to the hard roof of the mouth. When we make these sounds, we raise the middle of our tongue toward the hard palate. This changes how some consonants sound.

Some languages, like Russian, use this change in sound to give words different meanings. Other languages, such as Hupa, hear this change a little differently. In a few languages, this change affects whole syllables, making vowels sound a bit different too.

Transcription

In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), sounds made with the tongue close to the roof of the mouth are written with a special symbol ⟨ʲ⟩ added to the main letter. For example, ⟨tʲ⟩ shows a special way to say the sound [t]. Before 1989, IPA used different symbols for these sounds, but now the ⟨ʲ⟩ symbol is used. Some languages, like Võro, use an apostrophe next to the letter, such as ⟨ś⟩, while others use two letters together, like ⟨sj⟩ in some Finnish dialects.

Phonology

Palatalization has different roles in various languages. In English, it is a way sounds change before certain vowels but doesn't create new words. However, in languages like Russian and Irish, palatalization can change the meaning of words completely.

In some languages, palatalization is a normal sound change that happens in specific places but doesn’t create new words. For example, in Russian, the word for "nose" is нос and sounds different from the word for "(he) carried," which is нёс, because of palatalization.

In other languages, palatalization is important for telling words apart. For example, in Russian, the word нос means "nose" and uses an unpalatalized sound, while нёс means "(he) carried" and uses a palatalized sound.

Palatalization can also help show changes in words when they are used in different forms. In Romanian, the word ban means "coin" and bani means "coins." The palatalized sound at the end of bani helps show that it is the plural form.

In Russian, palatalization can change how verbs and nouns are used. For example, the word ответ means "answer," and ответить means "to answer." The palatalized sound helps show the different forms of the word.

Sound changes

Main article: Palatalization (sound change)

In some languages, the way consonants are pronounced with the tongue close to the roof of the mouth turned into a bigger change. In other languages, sounds that were once made this way changed even more, affecting how they are made.

When consonants are pronounced this way, it can also change the sounds of nearby vowels. In Russian, consonants made with the tongue close to the roof are usually followed by vowels that sound a bit like "ee" or "oo", while other consonants are followed by vowels that sound different.

See Russian phonology § Allophony for more information.

Examples

In many Slavic languages, sounds made with the tongue close to the roof of the mouth are called soft, and others are called hard. For example, Russian has pairs of sounds that are soft or hard. Russian uses special letters to show when a sound before a vowel is soft, like using я instead of а.

Irish and Scottish Gaelic also have pairs of sounds made with the tongue close to the roof of the mouth and sounds made without this change. In Irish, most of the hard sounds are made with the back of the tongue.

The Marshallese language has special ways to change each sound, including making them with the tongue close to the roof of the mouth. These changed sounds are called “light,” while others are called “heavy.”

In many Norwegian dialects, sounds can change based on their position in a word, especially in certain areas like Northern Norway. For example, the words for “hand” and “he” sound different only because of this change in the final sound. Norwegian speakers often change sounds like d, l, n, and t in this way.

List of palatalized consonants

All types of consonant sounds can be palatalized, meaning they can be pronounced with the tongue close to the roof of the mouth. This happens in many languages.

Some languages use special symbols to show these sounds, like adding a small "j" next to the letter. For example, the Mwangwego script, used for the Malawian Ngoni language, has a special way to write a palatalized click sound. There are also notes about some sounds that might be confused with others, like certain velar sounds that could actually be a different kind of sound.