English

Noun

palatal hook ‎(plural palatal hooks)

1. (orthodontics) A small hook for attaching elastic bands on the internal side of braces fixed to the upper teeth.
   • For usage examples of this term, see Citations:palatal hook.
2. (typography, rare) = háček (when it takes the form of a prime)
   • 1962, Revue Canadienne des Slavistes V, page 60

     In the Zographensis one finds pьřěaxǫ (John 6:52). Here the liquid is marked with the palatal hook.

   • 1968, Robert Magidoff et al. (editors), Studies in Slavic Linguistics and Poetics, in Honor of Boris O. Unbegaun, page 42

     Kalnyn′ states […] that in the best manuscripts […] the instances of marking of palatal l and n in general exceeds those of failing to do so; moreover, the marking of non-palatal consonants with a palatal hook is rare.

   • 2004, Robert Bringhurst, The Elements of Typographic Style (3rd ed.), page 304

     In Czech, [the háček] is actually a variant of the palatal hook, which can take the form of caron or apostrophe.

   • 2009, Theodore Rosendorf, The Typographic Desk Reference, page 130

     l-caron/l-palatal hook

3. (typography, pre-1989 IPA) A hamiform diacritic (̡) formerly used to mark consonantal palatalisation; superseded by the superscript jay: (ʲ).