palatal

UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈpælətəl/US:USA pronunciation: respellingUSA pronunciation: respelling(pal′ə tl)


WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
pal•a•tal  (pal′ə tl),USA pronunciation adj. 
  1. AnatomyAnat. of or pertaining to the palate.
  2. PhoneticsPhonet. articulated with the blade of the tongue held close to or touching the hard palate.

n. 
  1. PhoneticsPhonet. a palatal consonant.
  • French; see palate, -al1
  • 1820–30
pal′a•tal•ism, pal′a•tal′i•ty, n. 
pal′a•tal•ly, adv. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
palatal /ˈpælətəl/ adj
  1. Also called: palatine of or relating to the palate
  2. of, relating to, or denoting a speech sound articulated with the blade of the tongue touching the hard palate
 n
  1. Also called: palatine the bony plate that forms the palate
  2. a palatal speech sound, such as the semivowel (j)
ˈpalatally adv
'palatal' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
soft - tilde - yogh - alveopalatal - capercaillie - centum - llama - mojo - mouillé - palatalize - palatalized - palatine - palato-alveolar - satem

🗣️Forum discussions with the word(s) "palatal" in the title:


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