Palatalization

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Palatalization generally refers to two phenomena:

As a process or the result of a process, the effect that front vowels and the palatal approximant Template:IPA frequently have on consonants;

As a phonetic description, the secondary articulation of consonants by which the body of the tongue is raised toward the hard palate during the articulation of the consonant. Such consonants are phonetically palatalized, and in the International Phonetic Alphabet they are indicated by a superscript 'j', as Template:IPA for a palatalized [t].

The second may be the result of the first, but they often differ. That is, a vowel may "palatalize" a consonant (sense 1), but the result might not be a palatalized consonant in the phonetic sense (sense 2).

Conversely, the word palatalization may also be used for the effect a palatal or palatalized consonant exerts on nearby sounds, as in Erzya, where the front vowel [æ] only occurs as an allophone of [a] after a palatalized consonant, as seen in the pronunciation of the name of the language itself, Template:IPA. However, while the process may be called palatalization, the resulting vowel [æ] is not called a palatalized vowel in the phonetic sense. Terminology such as "palatal vowel" is found, however, but this is primary and not secondary articulation.

1 Phonetic (synchronic) palatalization
2 Historical (diachronic) palatalization
3 Local uses of the word
4 See also
5 References

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Phonetic (synchronic) palatalization

Palatalization may be a synchronic phonological process, i.e. some phonemes are palatalized in certain contexts, typically before front vowels or especially high front vowels, and remain non-palatalized elsewhere. This involves raising the body of the tongue toward the palate in addition to the original articulation, which may produce a laminal articulation of otherwise apical consonants such as /t/ and /s/. This process often does not produce separate phonemes, but allophonic variation that may even go unnoticed by native speakers. As an example, compare the /k/ of English key with the /k/ of coo, or the /t/ of tea with the /t/ of took. The first word of each pair is palatalized, but few English speakers would perceive them as distinct.

The variation might be seen as allophonic variation as long as the "palatal" sound causing the palatalization is there. However, syncope or elision might delete this sound, and thus only the palatalization remains as a distinct feature. For a minimal pair, consider Estonian kass Template:IPA from *kassi "cat" vs. kas Template:IPA (interrogative). It is also possible for palatalization to occur as an independent feature, independently of the following vowel.

Sometimes palatalization is part of a synchronic grammatical process, such as palatalizing the first consonant of a verb root to signal the past tense. This type of palatalization is phonemic, and is recognized by the speakers as a contrasting feature. However, what may have started off as phonetic palatalization can quickly evolve into something else, so not all of the resulting consonants are necessarily palatalized phonetically.

Phonetically palatalized consonants may also vary in their exact realization. In Russian, for example, palatalization is continued as a long, noticeable palatal offglide. That is, Template:IPA will be realized as Template:IPA. Furthermore, alveolar stops have a fricative release; Template:IPA is actually more like Template:IPA. In Hupa, on the other hand, the palatalization permeates the consonant, and is heard as both an onglide and an offglide: Template:IPA.

Palatalization is not the same as primary palatal articulation. These contrast in Skolt Sami; e.g. plain (or velarized) alveolar nasal <n>, palatalized alveolar nasal <'n> and palatal nasal <nj>.

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Historical (diachronic) palatalization

Palatalization may be a diachronic phonemic split, that is, a historical change by which a phoneme becomes two new phonemes over time through phonetic palatalization. Old historical splits have frequently drifted since the time they occurred, and may be independent of current phonetic palatalization. For example, Votic has undergone such a change historically, in for example keeli → tšeeli "language", but there is currently an additional distinction between palatalized laminal and non-palatalized apical consonants.

Palatalization has played a major role in the history of the Uralic, Romance, Slavic, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Indic languages, among many others throughout the world. In Japanese, for example, allophonic palatalization affected the alveolar stops /t/ and /d/, turning them into alveolo-palatal affricates Template:IPA and Template:IPA before /i/. Japanese has only recently regained phonetic [ti] and [di] through borrowed words, and thus this originally allophonic palatalization has become lexical.

Such phonemic splits due to historic palatalization are common in many other languages. Some English examples of cognate words distinguished by historical palatalization are church vs. kirk, witch vs. wicca, ditch vs. dike, and shirt vs. skirt, although only in witch/wicca did the change occur in historical times; in the other cases the words come from related dialects, only one of which experienced palatalization. More recently, the original /t/ of question and nature have come to be pronounced as ch in some English dialects, and similarly the original /d/ of soldier and procedure have come to be pronounced as j. This effect can be also be seen in casual speech in some dialects, where do you want to go? comes out like jew wanna go?, and did you eat yet? as didja eat yet?.

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Local uses of the word

There are various other local or historical uses of the word. In Slavic linguistics, the "palatal" fricatives marked by a hacek are really postalveolar consonants that arose from palatalization historically. There are also phonetically palatalized consonants that contrast with this; thus the distinction is made between "palatal" (postalveolar) and "palatalized". "Platalized" does not guarantee it is phonetically palatalized; e.g. in Russian, when 'т' is so-called "palatalized", a palatalized sibilant offglide is actually added, as in тема Template:IPA.

In Uralic linguistics, "palatalization" has the standard phonetic meaning. Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA and Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA are distinct phonemes, as they are in the Slavic languages, but Template:IPA and Template:IPA are not considered either palatal or palatalized sounds. In particular, the Uralic palatalized Template:IPA is purely a stop, unlike the Russian "palatalized т", where audible frication is permitted.

In using the Latin alphabet for Uralic languages, palatalization is typically denoted with an acute accent, as in Võro <ś>; an apostrophe, as in Karelian <s’>; or digraphs in j, as in the Savo dialect of Finnish, <sj>. Postalveolars, in contrast, take a caron, <š>, or are digraphs in h, <sh>.

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