Definition, Meaning & Synonyms

palatalize

Verb

/ˈpæl.ə.t̬əl.aɪz/

Definition

To change a sound into a palatal sound, or to modify a consonant sound to be articulated closer to the hard palate.

Examples

The word ‘did you’ is often palatalized to ‘dʒɪdʒu’ in rapid speech.
In some dialects of Russian, certain consonants are regularly palatalized before front vowels.
When learning English, many non-native speakers might struggle with the palatalization of sounds.

Meaning

In linguistics, palatalization refers to the process where a consonant sound becomes more like a palatal consonant, often occurring due to the influence of neighboring sounds or a change in the phonetic environment.