Not sure I can explain it in text to a native English speaker what palatalization is; you would need to hear actual examples.
There are some examples in English. It’s not quite the same as how Slavic languages work*, but it’s close enough to get the idea: If you compare “cute” and “coot”, the “k” sound in “cute” is palatalized while the “k” sound in “coot” is not. Another example would be “feud” and “food”.
British vs American English differ sometimes in palatalization. For instance, in British English (RP), “tube” is pronounced with a palatalized “t” sound, while in American English (SAE), “tube” is pronounced with a normal “t” sound.
* In English, the palatalization is more like a separate phoneme, so “cute” is /kjut/ and “coot” is /kut/, but in Slavic languages, the palatalization is directly on the consonant, so it would be /kʲut/. With the Slavic version, the tongue is in a different spot for the entire sound, while in the English version the /k/ is like normal and then the tongue moves to the soft palate.
Perhaps many Americans know at least some basics of Spanish? I think the Spanish ñ letter, as in “el niño”, is proper palatalization. (But I do not speak Spanish.)
My understanding of Spanish (also not a Spanish speaker) is that it’s a palatal nasal /ɲ/, not a palatalized alveolar nasal /nʲ/. With a palatal nasal, you’re making the sound with the tip of your tongue at the soft palate (the soft part at the top of your mouth, behind the alveolar ridge). With a palatalized nasal, it’s a “secondary” articulation, with the body of your tongue moving to the soft palate.
That said, the Spanish ñ is a good example of a palatal or palatalized sound for an English speaker.
There are some examples in English. It’s not quite the same as how Slavic languages work*, but it’s close enough to get the idea: If you compare “cute” and “coot”, the “k” sound in “cute” is palatalized while the “k” sound in “coot” is not. Another example would be “feud” and “food”.
British vs American English differ sometimes in palatalization. For instance, in British English (RP), “tube” is pronounced with a palatalized “t” sound, while in American English (SAE), “tube” is pronounced with a normal “t” sound.
* In English, the palatalization is more like a separate phoneme, so “cute” is /kjut/ and “coot” is /kut/, but in Slavic languages, the palatalization is directly on the consonant, so it would be /kʲut/. With the Slavic version, the tongue is in a different spot for the entire sound, while in the English version the /k/ is like normal and then the tongue moves to the soft palate.
I would just call this an extra ‘y’ sound before the vowel. ([ˈkjuːt] vs. [ˈkuːt])
Yeah, that’s absolutely more correct, but it is at least a little helpful for a monolingual English speaker to understand what palatalization is.
Perhaps many Americans know at least some basics of Spanish? I think the Spanish ñ letter, as in “el niño”, is proper palatalization. (But I do not speak Spanish.)
My understanding of Spanish (also not a Spanish speaker) is that it’s a palatal nasal /ɲ/, not a palatalized alveolar nasal /nʲ/. With a palatal nasal, you’re making the sound with the tip of your tongue at the soft palate (the soft part at the top of your mouth, behind the alveolar ridge). With a palatalized nasal, it’s a “secondary” articulation, with the body of your tongue moving to the soft palate.
That said, the Spanish ñ is a good example of a palatal or palatalized sound for an English speaker.
And Irish (Gaelic) has both! (/ɲ/ is slender ng, /nʲ/ is slender n)
This explains something I was confused about, thank you.