noun
- a phonetic change in which a consonant sound shifts toward or becomes a palatal sound, typically involving the tongue moving toward the hard palate
Usage: linguistics; phonetics
Examples
- The palatalization of /k/ before front vowels is common in many Romance languages.
- In English, the /t/ in 'nature' undergoes palatalization before the /j/ sound.
- Linguists study palatalization as one of the major sound changes in language evolution.
- The palatalization process affected consonants differently across various dialects.
- Historical palatalization explains why Latin /k/ became /tʃ/ in Italian before certain vowels.