The Term 'Palatalization'

Palatalization gets its name from the fact that to produce the mutation, the tongue moves from the lips, where the labial consonants like Ð Â Æ × Í are produced, from the teeth, where dental consonants like Ô Ä Ó and Ú are produced, and from the soft palate (velum), where the velar consonant, Ë Ç È, are formed, to the middle of the mouth and is raised to the hard palate. (Get the connection?)

We do not discuss the Old Church Slavic mutations since their distribution is limited. It is difficult to predict where they occurs but, when they do, they are as follows:

Ô > Ý
Ä > ÖÄ

Back to the Russian Verbs
© 1996 Robert Beard