PALATE

The 'palate' is the roof of the mouth in humans and vertebrate animals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. The palate is divided into two parts, the anterior bony 'hard palate', and the posterior fleshy 'soft palate' or 'velum'. The maxillary nerve branch of the trigeminal nerve (V) supplies sensory innervation to the palate.

Contents

Etymology

Function

See also

Etymology

The name is Middle English and is probably derived from the Latin ''palatum'' or the Old French ''palat''.

Function

When functioning in conjunction with other parts of the mouth the palate produces certain sounds, particularly velar, palatal, palatalized, postalveolar, alveolo-palatal, and uvular consonants.

See also

★ Hard palate

★ Soft palate

★ Cleft palate

★ Language

★ Vocal tract