palatalization

Meaning

Noun

• The state or quality of being palatalized, of pronouncing a sound with the tongue against the palate of the mouth that normally is not.
• An instance of pronunciation in which a sound is palatalized.

Origin

• palatal + -ization or palatalize + -ation. Earliest instance 1863 (palatalisation does already occur in 1862 in W. H. I. Bleek's A comparative grammar of South African languages. Part I. Phonology)