palatalization
Linguistic term for a sound change where a consonant becomes palatal or acquires a palatal secondary articulation, often before front vowels or /j/.
「し」の音には口蓋化が見られる。
Palatalization can be seen in the sound shi.
口蓋化は、多くの言語で見られる音韻現象の一つだ。
Palatalization is one of the phonological phenomena observed in many languages.
From 口蓋 (こうがい, 'palate') + 化 (か, '-ization').