Tongue

MedlinePlus says the tongue is mainly made up of muscles and is covered with a mucous membrane. Small bumps called papillae cover the surface of the back part of the tongue, and the taste buds lie between the papillae. A band of tissue attaches the tongue to the floor of the mouth.

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) explains that taste cells are clustered within the taste buds of the tongue and roof of the mouth, and along the lining of the throat. When the taste cells are stimulated, they send messages through three specialized taste nerves to the brain, where specific tastes are identified. MedlinePlus says the tongue normally senses sweet, salty, sour, and bitter tastes.

MedlinePlus uses glossitis for an inflamed tongue and describes geographic tongue as a patchy form of glossitis. Ankyloglossia is a disorder in which the band of tissue that attaches the tongue to the floor of the mouth is too short. Hairy tongue is a condition in which the tongue looks hairy or furry.

Lengua is the word MedlinePlus en español uses, and it is feminine: la lengua. Its health topic page says la lengua ayuda a saborear la comida, a tragar y a masticar, and that it is also used for speaking (hablar). The encyclopedia article on tongue problems is titled Problemas linguales, with the adjective lingual, and it also writes dolor lingual for tongue pain and temblor lingual for tongue tremor.

Note the vocabulary for the surface of the tongue: MedlinePlus en español calls the small bumps papilas and the taste buds papilas gustativas, so the same noun appears in both names. Conditions named in the same encyclopedia article are glositis (glossitis), lengua geográfica (geographic tongue), lengua vellosa (hairy tongue), lengua negra (black tongue) and anquiloglosia (ankyloglossia). The sense of taste is el sentido del gusto, and the tastes the page lists are dulces, salados, agrios y amargos (sweet, salty, sour and bitter).