tongue

Also known as tongueṡ

The tongue is a muscular organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for chewing and swallowing as part of the digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper surface (dorsum) is covered by taste buds housed in numerous lingual papillae. It is sensitive and kept moist by saliva and is richly supplied with nerves and blood vessels. The tongue also serves as a natural means of cleaning the teeth. A major function of the tongue is to enable speech in humans and vocalization in other animals.

OverviewAI-generated

The tongue is a subject represented by the Unicode character "👅". It is categorized under the Commons category "Tongues" and featured in the Commons gallery "Tongue". In the NCI Thesaurus, it is identified by the ID "C12422".

Academic literature regarding the tongue includes 71,244 entries in PubMed under the query "tongue". Additionally, the topic is referenced by 1,123 other encyclopedia articles.

Synthesized by Vinony from 8 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, PubMed, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Key facts

Anatomy.Name: Tongue
Anatomy.Latin: lingua
Anatomy.Greek: γλῶσσα (glôssa)
Anatomy.Image: زبان tongue.jpg
Anatomy.Caption: The human tongue
Anatomy.Precursor: Pharyngeal arches, lateral lingual swelling, tuberculum impar
Anatomy.Artery: Lingual, tonsillar branch, ascending pharyngeal
Anatomy.Vein: Lingual
Anatomy.Nerve: SensoryAnterior two-thirds: Lingual (sensation) and chorda tympani (taste)Posterior one-third: Glossopharyngeal (IX)MotorHypoglossal (XII), except palatoglossus muscle supplied by the pharyngeal plexus via vagus (X)
Anatomy.Lymph: Deep cervical, submandibular, submental
Anatomy.System: Alimentary tract, gustatory system

via Wikipedia infobox

Research

71,244 papers

The tongue as a gripper.ReviewThe Journal of experimental biology · 2018Noel AC, Hu DLDOI: 10.1242/jeb.176289
Bioelectronic tongue: Current status and perspectives.ReviewBiosensors & bioelectronics · 2020Wasilewski T, Kamysz W, Gębicki JDOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2019.111923
Cetacean tongue mobility and function: A comparative review.ReviewJournal of anatomy · 2023Werth AJ, Crompton AWDOI: 10.1111/joa.13876
What is a tongue tie? Defining the anatomy of the in-situ lingual frenulum.Clinical anatomy (New York, N.Y.) · 2019Mills N, Pransky SM, Geddes DT et al.DOI: 10.1002/ca.23343
Tongue cleaning in the elderly and its role in the respiratory and swallowing functions: Benefits and medical perspectives.ReviewJournal of oral rehabilitation · 2021Izumi M, Akifusa SDOI: 10.1111/joor.13266
Comparative morphology of the primate tongue.ReviewAnnals of anatomy = Anatomischer Anzeiger : official organ of the Anatomische Gesellschaft · 2019Iwasaki SI, Yoshimura K, Shindo J et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.aanat.2019.01.008
[Conspicuous Conditions of the Tongue: Normal Variants vs. Pathological Findings].ReviewPraxis · 2023Broglie Däppen M, Toman Müller G, Gander T
Functional Perspectives in Tongue Reconstruction Based on Perforator Free Flap.ReviewOral and maxillofacial surgery clinics of North America · 2024Choi JW, Kim YCDOI: 10.1016/j.coms.2024.07.011

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Subclass of: sensory organ
Part of: mouth
Image: Tongue.agr.jpg

Show 11 more facts

described by source: Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language
Unicode character: 👅
Commons category: Tongues
topic's main category: Category:Tongue
arterial supply: ascending pharyngeal artery
venous drainage: lingual vein
Commons gallery: Tongue
different from: language
NCI Thesaurus ID: C12422
WordLift URL: data.wordlift.io/wl01714/entity/tongue.html
innervated by: glossopharyngeal nerve

Sources (9)

via Wikidata · CC0

~24 min read

Encyclopedic overview

33 sections

Contents

Etymology
In humans
Structure
Upper surface
Undersurface
Muscles
Extrinsic
Intrinsic
Blood supply
Nerve supply
Lymphatic drainage
Microanatomy
Development
Function
Taste
Mastication
Speech
Intimacy
Clinical significance
Disease
Medication delivery
Other animals
Society and culture
Figures of speech
Gestures
Body art
Representational art
As food
Gallery
See also
Further reading
References
External links

The human tongue is divided into two parts, an oral part at the front and a pharyngeal part at the back. The left and right sides are also separated along most of its length by a vertical section of fibrous tissue (the lingual septum) that results in a groove, the median sulcus, on the tongue's surface.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “tongue” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.