"palatal" in the noun sense

1. palatal

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

"palatal" in the adjective sense

1. palatal, palatine

relating to or lying near the palate

"palatal index"

"the palatine tonsils"

2. palatal, palatalized, palatalised

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')

Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)

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