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Palate
Head and neck.
Palate exhibiting torus palatinus.
Latin	palatum
Gray's	subject #242 1112
MeSH	Palate
Dorlands/Elsevier	Palate

The palate (pronounced /ˈpælɨt/) is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity.^[1] A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but, in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly separate. The palate is divided into two parts, the anterior bony hard palate, and the posterior fleshy soft palate or velum. ^{[2] [3][4]}The maxillary nerve branch of the trigeminal nerve (V) supplies sensory innervation to the palate.

The hard palate is formed before birth. If the fusion is not complete, it is called a cleft palate. As the roof of the mouth was once considered the seat of the sense of taste, palate can also refer to this sense itself, as in the phrase "a discriminating palate". By further extension, the flavor of a food (particularly beer or wine) may be called its palate, as when a wine is said to have an oaky palate.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Function 3 See also 4 Footnotes 5 References

[edit] Etymology

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

[edit] 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. ^[5]

[edit] See also

• Hard palate
• Soft palate
• Cleft palate
• Language
• Vocal tract
• pallet and palette, objects whose names are homophonous with palate for many English-speakers

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ Wingerd, 166
2. ^ Wingerd, 478
3. ^ Clayman, 1995
4. ^ Gray's Anatomy, 1172
5. ^ Gray's Anatomy, 1201

[edit] References

• Wingerd, Bruce D. (1994). The Human Body Concepts of Anatomy & Physiology. Saunders College Publishing. ISBN 0-03-055507-8. 
• Wingerd, Bruce (1994). The Human Body Concepts of Anatomy and Physiology. Fort Worth: Saunders College Publishing. pp. 166. ISBN 0-03-055508-8. 
• Goss, Charles Mayo (1966). Gray's Anatomy. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger. pp. 1172. 

v • d • e Head and neck anatomy, digestive system: Mouth anatomy (TA A05.1-2, GA 11.1110-2, 1125-1141) Mouth Vestibule of mouth Lip (Upper, Lower, Vermillion border) · Philtrum Oral cavity proper Palate/ roof of mouth Hard palate · Soft palate · Palatine raphe · Incisive papilla Tongue dorsum (Taste bud, Median sulcus, Terminal sulcus, Foramen cecum, Lingual tonsils) · underside (Frenulum, Fimbriated fold, Sublingual caruncle) · Anterior · Posterior · Glossoepiglottic folds Other Teeth · Gingiva (Interdental papilla, Gingival sulcus, Gingival margin) · Oral mucosa · Buccal fat pad Salivary glands Parotid gland/Parotid duct · Submandibular gland/Submandibular duct · Sublingual gland/Major sublingual duct Oro-pharynx arches/fauces (Palatoglossal, Palatopharyngeal) · Oropharyngeal isthmus/Isthmus of the fauces · Palatine tonsil · Uvula mouth navs: anat/dev, noncongen/congen face/congen GI/neoplasia, symptoms, proc