The word tongue can be used as a synonym for language, e.g. as in the phrase mother tongue.
It is also examined and observed diagnostically in Traditional Chinese medicine.
The tongue is made mainly of Skeletal muscle and attached to the Hyoid bone, Mandible and the styloid processes of the Temporal bone.
The muscles that attach the tongue are the extrinsic muscles of the tongue. Inside the tongue, there are four pairs of intrinsic muscles that can alter the shape of the tongue for talking and swallowing. Since it contains no supporting skeletal structures for the muscles, the tongue is an example of a Muscular hydrostat, like an Octopus arm.
The dorsum (top side) of the tongue can be divided into two parts, an oral part that lies mostly in the mouth, and a pharyngeal part (posterior third of the tongue) which faces backwards to the oropharynx. The two parts are separated by a V-shaped groove, the sulcus terminalis (or terminal sulcus).
The dorsal side of the anterior two-thirds (oral part) of the tongue is covered with small bumpy projections called papillae. There are four types of papillae: filiform (thread shaped), fungiform (mushroom shaped), foliate (leaf shaped), and vallate (ringed-circle). All papillae except the filiform have taste buds on their surface. At the back of the oral part of the tongue there are 3-14 vallate papillae arranged in a V-shape in front of the sulcus terminalis.
There are no lingual papillae on the underside of the tongue. It is covered with a smooth Mucous membrane, with a fold (the lingual frenulum) in the centre.
The upper side of the posterior tongue (pharyngeal part) has no visible taste buds, but it is bumpy because of the lymphatic nodules lying underneath. These follicles are known as the lingual tonsil.
Things related to the tongue are often called lingual which comes from the Latin word, or glossal which comes from the Greek word for tongue.
| Sensory system - Gustatory system | |
| Tongue - Taste bud - Gustatory cortex - Basic tastes |