PALATAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does palatal mean? 

• PALATAL (noun)
  The noun PALATAL has 1 sense:

1. a semivowel produced with the tongue near the palate (like the initial sound in the English word 'yeast')

  Familiarity information: PALATAL used as a noun is very rare.

• PALATAL (adjective)
  The adjective PALATAL has 2 senses:

1. relating to or lying near the palate

2. produced with the front of the tongue near or touching the hard palate (as 'y') or with the blade of the tongue near the hard palate (as 'ch' in 'chin' or 'j' in 'gin')

  Familiarity information: PALATAL used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PALATAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A semivowel produced with the tongue near the palate (like the initial sound in the English word 'yeast')

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("palatal" is a kind of...):

glide; semivowel (a vowellike sound that serves as a consonant)

Derivation:

palatal (produced with the front of the tongue near or touching the hard palate (as 'y') or with the blade of the tongue near the hard palate (as 'ch' in 'chin' or 'j' in 'gin'))

• PALATAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Relating to or lying near the palate

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

palatal; palatine

Context example:

the palatine tonsils

Pertainym:

palate (the upper surface of the mouth that separates the oral and nasal cavities)

Derivation:

palate (the upper surface of the mouth that separates the oral and nasal cavities)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Produced with the front of the tongue near or touching the hard palate (as 'y') or with the blade of the tongue near the hard palate (as 'ch' in 'chin' or 'j' in 'gin')

Synonyms:

palatal; palatalised; palatalized

Similar:

soft ((of speech sounds); produced with the back of the tongue raised toward the hard palate; characterized by a hissing or hushing sound (as 's' and 'sh'))

Derivation:

palatal (a semivowel produced with the tongue near the palate (like the initial sound in the English word 'yeast'))

 Context examples 

Excision of the apical portion of a tooth root through an opening made in the overlying labial, buccal, lingual, or palatal alveolar bone.

(Apicoectomy, NCI Thesaurus)