A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics David Crystal

348 palato-alveolar
whole of the upper oral area (including lips and alveolum) is referred to as
palatal, on the grounds that this constituted a single embryological process. In
phonetics, a much more restricted sense is used: here, the term applies to the
whole area from behind the alveolar ridge to the uvula. It is divided into two
parts: the hard palate, which is the immobile bony area immediately behind the
alveolar ridge, and the soft palate or ‘velum’, which is the mobile fleshy continuation
of this, culminating in the uvula. Only sounds articulated in the area of the
hard palate are called ‘palatal’ sounds; soft-palate sounds are either velar or
uvular. The soft palate is particularly important in the production of speech, as
it is under muscular control which enables it to be raised (closing the upper part
of the pharynx) for the production of oral sounds, or lowered (keeping the
passage to the nose open) for the production of nasal sounds. Poor control of
the soft palate (which may result from several neurological or anatomical conditions,
such as cleft palate) leads to abnormal nasal resonance or friction.
palato-alveolar (adj.) A term used in the phonetic classification of consonant
sounds on the basis of their place of articulation: it refers to a sound made
by a double movement of the tongue towards the area between the alveolar
ridge and hard palate: the blade of the tongue (or the tip and blade together)
makes contact with the alveolar ridge, while the front of the tongue is raised
in the direction of the hard palate. Examples in English are the sh- [à] of ship
and the -s- [è] of treasure. Several other varieties of sound may be articulated in
this part of the mouth by slightly varying the position and shape of the tongue,
e.g. alveo(lo)-palatal sounds, which are important in some languages, such
as Polish.
palatograph (n.) An instrument used in articulatory phonetics to study
articulations made against the palate. Palatography has used several techniques
to produce accurate pictures of tongue contact with the palate – palatograms.
An early palatographic technique involved spraying the roof of the mouth with
a dark powdery substance; an articulation would then be made, which, if in the
palatal or alveolar area, would rub off some of the substance: the roof of the
mouth would then be photographed to pinpoint the place of articulation. Apart
from the inconvenience of this method, its biggest drawback is that it was static:
it disallowed any observation of the movement of the tongue in connected
speech. More recently, electropalatographic techniques have been devised
which enable a continuous record to be made of the tongue contact in this area.
pandialectal (adj.) A term used primarily in dialectology and sociolinguistics
to characterize any linguistic feature, rule, etc., which is applicable
to all the dialects of a language.
panlectal (adj.) A term used by some sociolinguists to refer to a general
model of grammar within which all individual varieties (or lects) can be
interrelated, thus providing a model of a speaker’s passive competence. A
somewhat less ambitious undertaking is known as a polylectal grammar.
paradigmatic (adj.) (1) A basic term in linguistics to describe the set of
substitutional relationships a linguistic unit has with other units in a specific