Palatalization (phonetics)

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In phonetics, palatalization (/ˌpælətəlaɪˈzeɪʃən/, also US: /-lɪˈzeɪʃən/) or palatization is a way of pronouncing a consonant in which part of the tongue is moved close to the hard palate. Consonants pronounced this way are said to be palatalized and are transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet by affixing the letter ⟨ʲ⟩ to the base consonant. Palatalization cannot minimally distinguish words in most dialects of English, but it may do so in languages such as Russian, Mandarin, Võro, and Irish.