What is "palatal hook"

n. 1 (context orthodontics English) (rfdef: English) 2 (context typography rare English) = (l en háček) {{qualifier|when it takes the form of a (l en prime)}} 3 (context typography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International%20Phonetic%20Association%20Kiel%20Convention http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International%20Phonetic%20Alphabet English) A http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hook%20(diacritic) ((l mul ̡)) formerly used to mark consonantal (l en palatalization palatalisation); {{non-gloss definition|superseded by the (l en superscript) (l en jay): ''((l mul ʲ))''}}.

The palatal hook is a type of hook diacritic formerly used in the International Phonetic Alphabet to represent palatalized consonants. It is a small, leftwards-facing hook joined to the bottom-right side of a letter, and is distinguished from various other hooks indicating retroflexion, etc.

The IPA recommended that esh (  ) and ezh not use the palatal hook, but instead get special curled symbols: and . However, versions with the hook may have been used by some authors.

The palatal hook was withdrawn in 1989, in favour of a superscript j following the consonant (i.e., becomes ).