néznie

Néznie is a term primarily used in the context of Slovak linguistics and phonetics. It refers to the process where a consonant sound becomes palatalized, meaning it is pronounced with the body of the tongue raised towards the hard palate. This palatalization typically occurs before certain vowels or semi-vowels, particularly the front vowels like 'i' and 'e', or the glide 'j'.

The phonetic realization of néznie involves a secondary articulation where the tongue position is altered to produce a 'softer' sound compared to the original non-palatalized consonant. This phenomenon is a significant feature of the Slovak language and plays a role in distinguishing word meanings and grammatical forms. For instance, the presence or absence of palatalization can differentiate between different cases of nouns or verb conjugations.

In Slovak orthography, palatalization is often indicated by the letter 'i' following the consonant, or by a specific diacritic mark above certain consonants, such as the apostrophe in consonants like ť, ď, ň, or the caron in consonants like č, š, ž, dž, which are inherently palatalized. Understanding néznie is crucial for accurate pronunciation and comprehension of Slovak.