Countless studies, books, and articles have explored the taste, swallowing, and speech capabilities of the human tongue, often regarded as merely a small piece of flesh. One significant distinction between humans and animals lies in our ability to utilize the tongue for language, a capacity not shared by animals. However, what other roles might animal tongues serve?

Suitable for nutrition

The tongue, found in the vast majority of vertebrate animals (with the exception of a small group of frogs), possesses a remarkable flexibility owing to the arrangement of its muscle fibers in a multidirectional web. The variety of tongue structures across animal species reflects differences in their habitats, dietary habits, and lifestyles. It is crucial to note that for most terrestrial vertebrates, survival would be severely compromised without their tongues. In aquatic environments, where food tends to be softer and readily digestible, tongues aid in biting and mixing food with digestive enzymes. Conversely, the multitude of solid and dry foods found on land, including fruits, vegetables, and animal source foods, require soaking and softening for digestion. Animals thus necessitate tongues created in the best convenient form for their body structures and dietary needs to effectively consume such diverse foods. The remarkable diversity in animal tongue morphology underscores the intricate design and adaptation evident in all of creation, suggesting a divine understanding of each creature’s unique characteristics and the provision of suitable organs to match their needs.

Fish species like carp and catfish lack a mobile and extensible tongue, instead possessing a muscular bundle known as the palate. Unlike humans, fish don’t require mobile tongues for swallowing food. They open their jaws wide to expand their throats and pump water through their gill slits forming a bellows-shaped mechanism that generates a powerful suction force, enabling them to swallow food effortlessly without the need for a moving tongue to assist in biting.

In contrast, land animals lack a bellows-like mechanism such as gills to facilitate food swallowing. While they could potentially use air instead of water for suction, air lacks the density to generate a comparable swallowing force. Instead, they are given the tongue, an organ equipped with robust muscles. However, some birds, due to the slender structure of their mouth and neck regions, cannot accommodate a thick tongue. Instead, they have been taught to swallow by utilizing gravity, keeping their heads raised.

The need for food is one explanation among many as to why tongues are in so many different forms, structures, and functions. Some species of salamanders have a sticky tongue which is longer than their body; they catch insects by snapping their tongue at its prey like a whip. Webbed salamanders (Hydromantes) protrude their attached throat skeleton from their mouths, along with their tongues, which is covered with a sticky secretion, to catch insects or spiders. The tongue is then refolded in its former place in the throat with a special mechanism, where it stores energy for a while to be ready to catch the next prey.

Nearly eight thousand species of salamanders and frogs, chameleons and many lizards quickly pull their prey into their mouths by throwing their tongues like ballistic missiles to hunt. Chameleons, for example, catch crickets in less than a tenth of a second by propelling their tongues at a speed close to five meters per second. These tongues are covered, of course not coincidentally, with very small lumps called papillae, which produce a sticky secretion. The secreted saliva is so sticky that the prey, even if it is 50% heavier than the hunter, cannot save itself from it [1].

Horned lizards (Phrynosoma) use their sticky saliva-covered tongues not only to catch prey, but also to protect themselves from the possible danger of their prey. Ants, which are the prey of these lizards, have poisonous and strong bites. However, despite this, horned lizards swallow them alive. In a 2008 study, it was discovered that the dense and sticky slimy substance secreted from the blister-shaped glands on the tongues and throat walls of lizards protects the lizard from the venom of ants [2].

Some animals, such as the mace-headed giant gecko (Rhacodactylus auriculatus) that lives on the island of New Caledonia, use their tongues to clean their eyes. Snakes sniff their surroundings with their forked tongues, that is, the tongue of snakes is the organ of smell, not the organ of taste. The vibrational frequency of their tongues, which are created to locate their distant or hidden prey, varies according to the intensity and distance of the smell. In order to understand the nature of the odor molecules that stick to their tongues from the air, snakes insert their forked tongues into the Jacobson’s organ in their upper palate so that the smell is perceived in their brains. It is amazing that they are created with this mechanism and taught to follow this procedure.

Bird tongues are like surgical instruments of specialist doctors so that they can benefit from different food sources. An important factor in the diversity of tongues in birds is related to the shape of the flowers, which carry the sweet nectar of the plants. The tongue of most birds is made of very little muscle and connective tissue and is covered with a keratin cover. Attached to the root of the tongue is a system of levers made of bone which is tasked to function like a production line, moving the tongue back and forth so the food is transported from front to back. The woodpecker, for instance, inserts its bill into tree cavities and use their specially structured tongue to pull insect larvae into their mouths.

The tongue is the most vital organ for animals which feed on nectar, such as hummingbirds. Their tongues are created to suck high-energy nectar from the depths of the flowers, like a straw. Nectar is easy to find, but the tongue needs to be suitable for the unique structure of the flower. This is of vital importance so the birds can get a drop of nectar at the bottom of these flowers, which are usually long and narrow-throated.

Previously, it was thought that the nectar passively rose up the round and thin straw-like bills with a capillary mechanism. However, research has shown that, contrary to previous understanding, nectar is collected into the grooves on the tongue through the broom-like end, as observed in the Pied Honeyeater (Certhionyx variegatus). It’s been found that the physical capillarity is not fast enough to drink the nectar of flowers, so hummingbirds move their tongues 15 times per second while hovering, running their tongues back and forth like the piston of a pump [3].

We see that not all nectar-feeding birds are like hummingbirds, and that each bird is equipped with a bill and tongue structure suitable for its food. The tongues of the lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus), who are members of the parrot family, are similar to those of humans, but with their fleshy-looking tongues with brush-like tips, they collect nectar from long-necked flowers by turning it into paste. Unlike the lorikeet, which has a brush-like tongue tip, other species of parrots have a grooved tongue tip to collect nectar; their tongues vibrate very quickly to pump nectar into the esophagus [4].

The tongue and hand skills in humans

Xu An, a neurobiologist at Duke University, and his colleagues have discovered an area in the monkeys’ cerebral cortex called the “oromanuel” region that exerts control over both hands and tongue. There are observations suggesting that a similar brain region exists in humans. For example, as the fingers of children who learn to write move, so does their tongue with similar curves. When they focus too much on what they are doing with their hands, we can see that some people unconsciously open their mouths and move their tongues left and right with a certain rhythm. Some scientists do not see this as an oddity and say that these tongue-twisting movements can increase the accuracy of movements in delicate manual work. However, it is difficult to observe this situation because most people have their mouths closed.

By examining the neural activity records in monkeys, information was obtained about how the complex tongue movements involved in feeding, drinking, and perhaps even vocalizations are coordinated in the brain. It has been determined that in a region the size of a penny in the cortex, there are both sensory neurons coming from the tongue and mouth, as well as movement (motor) neurons that are instrumental in controlling tongue movement. In addition, while it was once thought that chewing movement was under the control of the brain stem just as, for instance, walking is, it has been shown that this center occupies a lot of space in the cerebral cortex, and that the curving of the tongue in complex and asymmetrical ways according to the type of food at the time of chewing is controlled very quickly from here.

Tongue saved from teeth

The most important function of the tongue in mammals is to position food so it is properly chewed and swallowed. Have you ever thought about how agile our tongue must be to stay between our teeth and not get bitten when we talk or chew food? Depending on the species, it takes great timing to shift the food from one side of the mouth to the other with each bite, or to limit it to just one side, keeping the tongue itself safely away from the teeth so that it can’t be bitten. Then, with the addition of secreted, slippery, and softening saliva, the tongue, with appropriate movements, forms the food into a round bite that can easily pass through the throat. Finally, when pushing this bite into the esophagus to be swallowed, a precise adjustment is observed so that not even a small piece escapes into the airways.

Shape and volume ratio

The human tongue, like a water balloon, is a muscular hydrostat whose total volume of mass must remain the same, no matter how much its shape changes. Therefore, when we stick out our tongue, it becomes thinner and longer compared to its bulk shape in the mouth. Similar movements apply when the giraffe’s purple-colored tongue which extends 45–50 cm outward to collect leaves from a thorny tree branch.

In addition to functions such as assisting in eating and distinguishing between thousands of different tastes, the human tongue is unique in helping us speak our complex languages. This is possible because of our tongue’s ability to change shape easily. For the tongue to instantly convolute according to the thousands of words formed in the mind and send food to the pharynx without being bitten, there must be centers in the brain with very different and complex neuron units. The brain is responsible for adjusting all body behaviors by informing other parts of the brain about the processes in these centers. For example, the management of hundreds of functions, such as grimacing because of a sour taste or the immediate reflection of a sudden change in our thinking while speaking and in our choice of words seem to be under the control of neurons in these centers. Looking at these amazing activities, one surely seeks a source of power and wisdom beyond biological structures – neurons or otherwise – that can command all the nerves and atoms in our body.

In all species, the tongue is equipped with taste buds in order to be able to “gate” in directing nutrition and to understand the nature of food. All these special skills given to the tongue enable mammals to eat more food faster and in greater quantities than other vertebrates and to digest this food efficiently. Thanks to this feature given to their tongues, mammals can have their high metabolic rate and activity, both the mother and offspring can be nourished during long-term pregnancies, and the energy needs of large brains are met.

The tongue, which is braided by a complex network of muscle fibers that can move in complex ways, contributes to sucking in most species, but in others, such as dogs, it helps thermoregulation (heat regulation). The excess heat of their bodies, which get very hot by running, is cooled by sticking their tongues out. Bats, on the other hand, click their tongues to produce sounds that are used for echolocation (locating and locating by sound).

A home for microbes

Our tongue is also home to a complex community of bacteria that can affect our health. According to Jessica Mark Welch, a microbial ecologist at the Forsyth Institute, the tongue is an unknown and very important part of the human microbiome as an important source of bacteria. Welch says that the proportions of these microbes vary from person to person, but each bacterial community may have a specific function. For example, the bacterium called Veillonella on our tongue contributes to the regulation of blood pressure by performing the function of converting nitrate to nitrite, which the human body cannot do without. Other bacteria are also thought to possibly play a role in regulating the immune system [5].

We started with a tiny piece of meat, but as we finished it, I hope we understood that our tongue, which is a miracle of creation, is not a small and simple piece of meat.

References

1. C. A. Noel, D. L. Hu, “The tongue as a gripper”, Journal of Experimental Biology, 2018, 221/7, s. 1–10.
2. W. C. Sherbrooke, K. Schwenk, “Horned lizards (Phrynosoma) incapacitate dangerous ant prey with mucus”, Jez-A Ecological and Integrative Physiology, 2008, 309A/8, s. 447–459.
3. A. E. Hewes et al. “Variable evidence for convergence in morphology and function across avian nectarivores”, Journal of Morphology, 2022, 283/12, s. 1483–1504.
4. A. Rico-Guevara et al. “Nectar feeding beyond the tongue: hummingbirds drink using phase-shifted bill opening, flexible tongue flaps and wringing at the tips”, Journal of Experimental Biology, 2023, 226 (Suppl. 1), s. 9356–9360.
5. S. A. Wilbert et al. “Spatial ecology of the human tongue dorsum microbiome”, Cell Rep, 24 Mar 2020, 30/12, s. 4003–4015.

The oral cavity is one of the many systems that is perfectly designed while a fetus develops in a mother’s womb

The first event that takes place inside the mother’s womb is the union of sperm and egg to form into a single cell which later takes the shape of an embryo by rapid division and development. This embryological development occurs in three stages.

In the first of these stages (2-5 weeks), the fertilized egg (zygote) proliferates by dividing and planting itself to the womb wall (implantation). During the advance of the zygote towards the womb, some biochemical signals are sent in order to make the mother sense this situation. Via these signals, the mother’s body is prepared to supply the necessary nutrients to this cellular mass. When these biochemical signals reach the ovaries, various hormones are secreted and the ovulation that occurs during monthly periods is ceased.

During the second stage (5-6 weeks), major activities are started inside the cellular mass, which is now in the form of an embryo. The developmental process of organ and system generation from cells begins.

And during the third stage (from the 8^th week until birth), the embryo has become a fetus, and its facial and bodily structures have begun to be immaculately shaped (Figure-1).

How do organs develop?

Tissues and organs of the embryo, which morphologically starts to look like a human, develop from three layers, which are called the ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. While the baby continues to come to life inside the mother’s womb, the cranial and facial regions, along with oral cavity, start to form via the development of cells in the area called the neural crest. This development is the result of perfectly corresponding functions in between the epithelium and outer mesenchyme, which results in the facial skeleton and formation of teeth.

Jaw and facial development occur during the 4-12 weeks in the womb. By the end of the 10^th week, the face can be seen with an ultrasonographic examination.

The nose forms at this point. Mid and lateral nose projections develop. A forehead projection called the “frontonasal protrusion” forms in between the two sided mid nose projections. These projections initially develop towards the lower direction because of the volume of the tongue. Later, after the palate has begun to form, and with the growth of the lower jaw and the downward extension of the tongue, like an open-close bridge, the lower and upper jaw join at the midline by rising upward. This union takes place from front to back, like closing a zipper, stage by stage.

This way, the oral cavity and the surrounding structures (tongue, teeth, etc.) that will enable speech and taste are knit, loop by loop, inside the mother’s womb. (Figure 1-2)

Due to the complexity of this process, if there happens to be any failure in the merging, some anomalies can form, such as split lips or palates. These splits are anomalies present at birth. Such lip or palate splits may arise during this phase of the pregnancy because of various negative factors: they can stem from inter-family marriages, diseases that the mother experiences during the first three months of the pregnancy (especially measles or toxoplasmosis), exposure to radiation, alcohol consumption during pregnancy, or various drugs the mother uses. These anomalies need to be corrected by plastic surgeons, upper respiratory tract specialists, and orthodontists.

Despite these anomalies, most of the time, babies are born with their oral cavities in perfect working order – which is extraordinary given the complexity of the process.

Reference

Oral R. J, Goldman H.M. Thoma’s oral Pathology.The CV Mosby Comp. St. Louis.

Figure-1: Ultrasonographic image of the facial region of a fetus in the mothers womb.

Figure-2: Upper jaw bone

We are three pairs of large glands that secrete into the mouth through canals and hundreds of very small glands around the throat. The large glands in front of the ear area are called the parotid glands, the glands under the chin are called the submandibular glands, and the ones under the tongue are called the sublingual glands. The parotid glands secrete saliva from the sides of the upper molar teeth, the submandibular glands from the front under the tongue, and the sublingual glands from many openings in the mouth’s base. There are also many more salivary glands in your inner cheeks and lips, and in all other wet spots in your mouth and throat.

Every sugary and starchy food you eat must first interact with our secretion in order to be digested. For this, an enzyme called ptyalin has been placed within us. But for this enzyme to work properly you must chew your food well. Also, you shouldn’t eat anything that is too hot or too cold, or anything that could change the pH (acidity) level of your mouth. Otherwise, this enzyme cannot function correctly. We produce an average of about 1000 milliliters (one liter) of secretion every day; however, we have the capacity to produce 1.5 liters of saliva per day.

Sometimes, the calcium in our enzymes may precipitate and form tartar due to acidic foods. Tartar can sometimes block our secretion canals. When you eat something, saliva production accelerates; but if our secretion canals are blocked by tartar, then the saliva cannot flow. This causes infection accompanied by severe pain and swelling. If our canals aren’t completely blocked, we may swell a little while eating, but we will slowly deflate after a while. Microbes can reproduce easier in accumulated saliva that cannot flow, thus causing severe pain and swelling. Our most frequently seen infection is the one that makes the parotid glands swell up, and is called the “mumps”. Even though it is seen more frequently in children, it may also be observed in adults. The swelling of both of the parotid glands is more frequent in alcoholics.

The thiocyanate ions that have been put in our saliva secretion kill the bacteria in your mouth by breaking them apart. In addition, lysozyme enzymes attack and kill bacteria in your mouth while digesting food remains to prevent the bacteria to feed and reproduce. Hungry bacteria perish more easily. Our infinitely merciful Lord put special proteins called anticorps in our saliva to prevent many diseases that can enter from the mouth before they develop. These anticorps act like special agents that attack and destroy bacteria. If we don’t secrete enough saliva, ulcers will develop in your mouth frequently. If they last long enough, they will get infected and also cause tooth decay.

The control of our secretion is connected to an area that includes the appetite center in the brain stem through the involuntary nervous system. When you smell or taste foods you like, we immediately start secreting saliva as a reflex. When you come across foods that you don’t like, or when you get scared or excited, we slow down saliva production, again reflexively. Suspects in the past used to be given a handful of rice to swallow, with the thought that the real culprit would not be able to swallow them, because the excitement caused by the feeling of guilt would cause his/her mouth to dry.

Diabetes, which is a systemic illness, also has a negative effect on our functioning. Diabetes presents itself with drying of the mouth, along with excessive intake of water, and the frequent need to visit the restroom. One type of rheumatoid arthritis may also cause dry mouth and dry eyes together with joint pain.

As you see, Peter, I’ve briefly explained to you how invaluable and necessary your saliva is. I have not even mentioned our histological and anatomical structure, which resembles a bunch of grapes. I believe you can imagine how each and every one of my gland cells is like a perfect biochemical factory. You wouldn’t relate all these to your mouth being wet for no reason, would you?

Irfan Yilmaz is a professor of biology in Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey.

Every language spoken in the world represents a special culture, melody, color, and asset and to everyone the mother language is certainly one of the most precious treasures in our lives. It’s a duty and responsibility to preserve it and pass it down from generation to generation. Whether we are urged by necessity or because of other reasons, learning another language brings a lot of advantages in our life. A new language opens a new window in our world view and makes us more aware, open-minded, and respectful to other cultures, lifestyles, customs and beliefs. Moreover, knowing another language has been proven to contribute to helping us understand our mother tongue better. However, much research indicates that most children eventually learn a second, or even more, languages to a native-like fluency level, what immigrant families are not often aware of is that many of their children are at risk of losing their mother tongue.

Mother language for emotional and mental growth

Mother language has a very powerful impact in the formation of the individual. Our first language, the beautiful sounds of which one hears and gets familiar with before being born while in the womb, has such an important role in shaping our thoughts and emotions. A child’s psychological and personality development will depend upon what has been conveyed through the mother tongue. With this in mind, as psychologists say, it matters tremendously that language expressions and vocabulary are chosen with care when we talk to children. A child’s first comprehension of the world around him, the learning of concepts and skills, and his perception of existence, starts with the language that is first taught to him, his mother tongue. In the same manner, a child expresses his first feelings, his happiness, fears, and his first words through his mother tongue. Mother language has such an important role in framing our thinking, emotions and spiritual world, because the most important stage of our life, childhood, is spent in its imprints. A strong bond between a child and his parents (especially mother) is established by virtue of love, compassion, body language, and also through the most important one, which is the verbal language. When a person speaks their mother tongue, a direct connection establishes between heart, brain and tongue. Our personality, character, modesty, shyness, defects, our skills, and all other hidden characteristics become truly revealed through the mother tongue because the sound of the mother tongue in the ear and its meaning in the heart give us trust and confidence. “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart,” says Nelson Mandela. I came across an interesting article in support of the above. A study was carried out on fifteen Italian interpreters who were working for the European Union and translating in English and Italian. The interpreters were all extremely fluent in English. The study revealed surprising differences in brain activity when the subjects were shown words in their native language versus in other languages they spoke. About 170 milliseconds after a word was shown, the researchers recorded a peak in electrical activity in the left side of the brain, in an area that recognizes letters as part of words before their meaning is interpreted. These brain waves had much higher amplitude when the word was in Italian, the language the interpreters had learned before age five. “The findings show how differently the brain absorbs and recalls languages learned in early childhood and later in life,” said Alice Mado Proverbio, a professor of cognitive electrophysiology at the Milano-Bicocca University in Milan. Proverbio attributed the differences to the fact that the brain absorbs the mother tongue at a time when it is also storing early visual, acoustic, emotional and other nonlinguistic knowledge. This means that the native language triggers a series of associations within the brain that show up as increased electrical activity. “Our mother tongue is the language we use to think, dream and feel emotion,” Proverbio said.

Mother tongue is an indicator of cultural identity

A child connects to his parents, family, relatives, culture, history, identity and religion through his mother tongue. Native language links the child with the culture of the society the child comes from and shapes his identity. A lot of children from immigrant families, who don’t know their native language well, are at a crossroads of identity crisis. When a child doesn’t know his language well we cannot say that he will be nurtured with his culture properly for the fact that the relationship between language and culture is deeply rooted. Mother tongue is one of the most powerful tools used to preserve and convey culture and cultural ties. Children who are unaware of their culture, their language, and their history will lose confidence in themselves, the family, society and the nation to which they belong and will have no other option then seeking an alternate identity. A child will identify himself with the language and culture he knows best. For this reason, the attitudes and beliefs of immigrant parents are so important in this aspect. If they want to prevent this from happening they should find ways to help their children maintain and improve their mother language without neglecting to give affirmative messages and keeping positive attitudes about other cultures. We must not also forget that we live in a multicultural society and we should teach our children to learn about other cultures and respect them as well.

Mother tongue provides the basis for learning another language

Jim Cummins also underscores the importance of preserving mother tongue: “Children who come to school with a strong foundation in their mother tongue develop stronger literacy abilities in the language used at school. When parents or caregivers are able to spend time with their children and tell stories or discuss issues with them in a way that develops their mother tongue vocabulary and concepts, children come to school well prepared to learn the language of their immigrant country and succeed educationally.”

The ability to converse in a language is developed through the mother tongue. The child will get familiarized with the nuances of a language, how to learn it and use it, and this will enable him or her to learn other languages as well. A strong foundation in their first language will contribute to learning another language and help them develop stronger literacy skills in the school language, because children’s literacy knowledge and abilities transfer across languages from mother tongue to the language the child is learning at school. When children continue to develop their abilities in two or more languages throughout their primary school years they gain a deeper understanding of language and gradually acquire knowledge about how it can be manipulated and applied in different ways. They explore the similarities and differences between languages. Unfortunately, for many bilingual children who have little mother tongue support at home, once they start school their mother tongue is gradually replaced by the majority or dominantly used language, especially in the early school years. Some parents and educators believe that in order for children to learn a second language quickly and succeed at school children should use the majority language not only at school, but even at home. In fact the opposite is true. Children can learn two or more languages at the same time. We know children who learn to speak fluently two or three languages in some countries where more than one language are spoken. Researches show that children from immigrant families learn the social majority language in the early years at school very quickly, although it takes longer to learn academic language, and can lose their ability to use their mother tongues easily. They can lose it even in the home context if the mother language is not used constantly at home or among peers of the same community. They may retain comprehension, but will use the majority language with siblings, friends, and parents. Unfortunately, I often see kids from the same minority community speak the majority language instead of their mother tongue among themselves, even when they are outside school. Preferring second language to first language most often occurs because children do not know how to express themselves fluently in their mother tongue in certain contexts and situations. They lack vocabulary and literal expressions in the mother tongue and find it easier to express themselves in the majority language. As children grow up, parents see the linguistic gap between them and their children has widened and leading to an emotional disconnection.

How to promote mother tongue

Keeping mother tongue in a foreign country does not happen spontaneously. Instead, it is an achievement that requires commitment and determination, especially from the family. Parents must establish a strong home language policy and make consistent efforts to help their children develop good literacy skills in their first language.

Here are some ideas about how parents can promote learning mother tongue:

-The first step parents should take is make children love mother tongue by finding ways that motivate and encourage its learning.

-Leave second language to the outside world and speak to children only in your mother tongue at home.

-Devote time each day to reading and writing in mother tongue with children until they become able to read and write it independently.

-Tell stories and discuss interesting topics such as your childhood-children love to hear about parents’ childhoods-your home country celebrations, because this will develop both their oral and vocabulary skills.

-Have books and multimedia for children in the home language.

– Provide a reward system and make learning mother language competitive among children.

-Watch TV series or favorite cartoons with them in the target language.

-Listen to songs in mother tongue.

-Send children to centers that offer courses and other types of learning in your language.

-Provide contexts where children can use home language such as visits to country of origin, organize picnics, cultural events, or celebrations with families from the same community.

-Have them keep journals in home language.

-Communicate your expectations about your home language to your child’s teachers. As professionals, they can encourage and support your child in keeping and developing their home language in many ways.

Hurisa Guvercin is an ESL and Special Education Teacher, currently living in New Jersey.

References

Cummins, Jim. Bilingual Children’s Mother Tongue Why Is It Important for Education? Available at http://www.iteachilearn.com/cummins/mother.htm. Accessed in June 2009.

International Herald Tribune, May 23, 2008. Brain Activity Reveals Mother Tongue. Available at http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/23/europe/EU-FEA-GEN-Italy-Language-Of-Thoughts.php

Note

1. “Brain activity reveals mother tongue” published on March 23, 2008 in the International Herald Tribune.

Some people might see me as a rough piece of flesh that wiggles in the mouth. Of course I am not that simple! By looking at my color, some experienced doctors can even diagnose an illness. For example, some well-known symptoms that I show are whitening due to fever, becoming dark brown when you have typhoid, blackening because of a yeast infection, or having a smooth surface because of anemia or lack of niacin (a B-group vitamin).

If you are wondering what my primary duties are, I can say that the first is to help to produce speech, an ability which distinguishes you human beings from animals. For sure this speech production is not only mine. First of all the brain, which is the coordinator of all the organs including me, regulates all my movements in speaking. The other organs that help me form sounds to make words are your teeth, lips, palate, the vocal cords in your throat, and your lungs, which work like an air pump and vibrate those cords. As you see, so many of us work together just to produce your speech.

Other than the speech function, my second major duty is to work as an inspector to taste and process the countless fruits and delicious foods that are given by God. That is how you get an idea about an animal- or plant-based substance that you want to eat. If I did not exist, you might die because of a poisonous plant that you ate out of hunger. Many poisonous substances have a bitter taste. Indeed, I can sense their bad taste the moment I touch them and warn you to spit out the thing in your mouth immediately. When you eat sweet and delicious things, however, I make you remember and thank God, who has given them to you. However, you should be careful about my fondness for taste and control yourself since that is part of a God-given test. My Creator has made a relation between my love of taste and the evil-commanding side of your soul. He has also made me a step for your spiritual development. If you eat and drink too much, which means you are misled by your evil-commanding side and abuse my sense of taste, it will be you who lose. I do what my duty requires and get the taste of everything. But it is your job to use your will power and not to be defeated by your evil-commanding self (nafs). I will never stop you, whether you eat one piece of baklava or ten; I will get the taste of every piece. Do not ever blame me for that!

I have another function that many people are not aware of. My movement causes a negative pressure in the cavity of the mouth. Are you wondering what this negative pressure does? This pressure is needed especially for babies to nurse on their mothers’ breast easily; I help them in the sucking movement. In addition to that, as everybody knows, I have very important functions in chewing and swallowing food. I manipulate the food in your mouth; I soften and moisten it with saliva so that it can be easily swallowed. Also, during swallowing, I move the food back toward the pharynx. I have to be very careful while doing all this, since at my smallest mistake, your teeth might bite and hurt me.

Of course, I can do all this only with the help of my Creator, who has built my anatomy of delicate tissues and cells. Since He never does anything absurd or useless, He has given every organ qualities that are both esthetic and functional. My main body consists of seventeen muscles, eight of which are in pairs. They extend in all directions. Among those muscles are the lipid membrane and some salivary glands. I am the most flexible organ in your body. My many strong muscles enable me to move in lots of directions easily. Those muscles are covered by an epithelial lining which is called the mucous membrane. The small projections on my upper surface are called papillae. These papillae are of several types. They contain receptors which allow you to sense taste and the salivary glands that help me stay wet all the time. The papillae cover as far as an A-shaped line towards my back which makes up a third of my length. Here at my back, there are plenty of salivary glands and the lymphoid tissue, also known as the lingual tonsil. Many germs that enter through your mouth get trapped here. The papillae are named according to their shapes. The filiform papillae (which are long and thin) do not contain taste buds. They only provide a rough surface to move the food easily. The food is moistened by your saliva and crushed by your teeth. Then, with the help of these papillae, I help to shape the food into smaller pieces to make it easier to swallow. The fungiform papillae are mushroom-shaped and scattered among the filiform papillae. They are located at the center of my top surface and they contain taste buds. The circumvallate papillae lie along the A-shaped line which makes up the border of my back. These papillae are larger in size and smaller in number; there are around thirteen of them. Each taste bud on the fungiform papillae has 50 to 75 receptor cells which live for only seven to ten days. When cells die because of hot or acidic foods, new ones are created to make new nerves for the taste buds. Only substances that are dissolved in water can reach the taste receptors. That is why I cannot taste a dry substance that you have taken into your mouth right away; it has to be moistened and softened first. Tasting occurs in the receptor cells of taste, where some analyses are undertaken much more delicately than in a chemistry laboratory. My receptor cells change this chemical stimulus into an electrical stimulus and send it to your brain. This electrical stimulus allows the sense of taste to be perceived.

Among the many kinds of taste, there are four major groups. The taste buds for sweetness are located near my front; the taste buds for saltiness are scattered widely on my surface; the taste buds for bitterness are found at my back; and the taste buds for sourness are on my sides.

My under surface extends between my tip and the floor of your mouth. The mucous membrane that covers this surface is smooth and does not contain papillae. It is purple in color because of the many blood vessels that are inside me and nourish me. By the way, the famous saying that “the tongue does not have a bone” is wrong, since I do have a bone. However, this bone is not located in my front body, which is why I am very flexible and I can say whatever you command me to say. But by my muscles and ligaments I am firmly bound to a U-shaped bone (the hyoid bone) at my root. I am connected to your lower jaw by this bone.

I can have disorders, like every other organ. In fact, many disorders in me are an indication of disorders in the other organs or of a metabolic illness. For example, mouth ulcers can often be seen on me. Some types of mouth ulcer are caused by stress, lack of sleep, or lack of vitamins. Others occur as a result of absorption disorders and as a symptom of Behcet’s syndrome. Some ulcers can last for weeks and they can be very painful. You might suffer from this pain especially when you speak and eat. Diseases such as syphilis and herpes also show themselves as ulcers on me. I might even become cancerous in people who smoke or in those who eat and drink things that are too hot. I sometimes show the symptoms of some metabolic disorders like Down’s Syndrome, the blockage of lymph vessels, glycogenosis and amiloidosis. In these disorders, my muscle mass shows excessive growth due to abnormally deposited glycogen and amyloid.

Dear Peter, until now, your “speechless organs” have talked about themselves in their own tongue. I have always talked, but I have always talked on your behalf, expressing your thoughts and feelings. It is you who are responsible for what I have said, good or bad, since I am bound to your will power. However, today I spoke in my own tongue, and on behalf of our Creator. As is well known, I am an organ that has great potential for both evil and good. It is your duty to control me and use me well. Do not ever forget that I am not a simple mass of muscle, epithelium and nerves. Rather, I am a tool that can be used for both debasing and elevating you. From now on, when you eat an apple, do not swallow it before chewing well; wait till I get the flavor of it very well. In that way, you will have an opportunity to thank God for the food you are given. He is the One who not only gave you that apple, but also me, the organ that can taste it. This is just another amazing thing that makes your life beautiful! By thanking God, you will deepen your worship of Him.

Irfan Yilmaz is a professor of biology at Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey.

We have been brought up in an atmosphere in which the victories of love are in our eyes and the sound of the drums of love resounds in our hearts. Our hearts beat with excitement when we see the flag of love waving. We have become so intertwined with love that our lives become purely dependent on love, and we dedicate our souls to it. When we live, we live with love, and when we die, we die with love. In every breath, we feel it with our whole existence; it is our warmth in the cold, and our oasis in the heat.

In this over-polluted world, where evil is everywhere, if there is something that has been left untouched and clean, that is love; among all the fading ornaments of this life, if there is a beauty that has preserved its magnificence and charm without fading, that is also love. There is nothing more real or more lasting than love in any nation or society in this world. Wherever the sound of love, softer and warmer than a lullaby, is heard, all other voices, all instruments, are muted, and they all join together in a contemplation of silence with their most melodic strains.

Creation is the result of lighting the wick of the candle of love, the wick of “being known and seen.” If the Lord did not love creation, there would be neither moons, nor suns nor stars. The heavens are all poems of love, with the Earth being the rhyme. In nature, the heavy blow of love is felt, and in relationships between people, the flag of love can be seen to wave. In society, if there is a currency that maintains its value, it is love, and again the value of love is found in itself. Love weighs more if weighed against with the purest gold. Both gold and silver can lose their value in different markets and places, but the doors of love are closed to any kind of pessimism and nothing can alter its inner stability and harmony. Up to this very moment, only those who are immersed in hatred, wrath and enmity plan to resist and struggle against love. Ironically, the only cure that will calm these brutal souls is love. Beyond the effect of worldly treasures there are other problems that only the mystical keys of love can solve. It is not possible that any value on this earth can overcome or even compete with love. The cartels of gold, silver, coin, or any other object of value, are almost always conquered in this marathon by the devotees of affection and love. When the day comes, despite all the splendid, pompous life styles of the owners of material wealth, their coffers are empty, their fires have burned out; yet the candle of love always burns, giving light and diffusing this into our hearts and souls.

Those fortunate people who have kneeled in front of the altar of affection and who have devoted their lives to spreading love have not left even the smallest space in their vocabulary for words like hatred, wrath, conspiracy, or resentment, and even if it means putting their very lives at risk, they have never indulged in enmity. Their heads are humbly bowed, filled with love, they have never greeted anything other than love. When they rise, feelings of enmity try to find a haven in which to hide, feelings of hatred become jealous, recoiling from the blow delivered by love.

The only magic, the only spell that can destroy the tricks of Satan, is love. The messengers and prophets extinguished the fires of hatred and jealousy kindled by the pharaohs, the Nimrods, and other tyrannous kings; they used nothing but love. The saints have tried to gather together the undisciplined and rebellious souls, spread all over like loose pages; they have used love to try to introduce humane behavior to others. The power of love was great enough to break the spells of Harut and Marut,* and effective enough to extinguish the fires of Hell. Hence, there is no doubt that a person who is armored with love needs no other weapon. Indeed, love is strong enough to stop a bullet or even a canon ball.

Our interest in our environment and our love for humankind – that is, our ability to embrace creation – depends on knowing and understanding our own essence, our ability to discover ourselves, and to feel a connection with our Creator. In parallel with the ability to discover and feel our inner depths and hidden potential within our essence, we will also be able to appreciate that others also possess the same potential. Moreover, because these inner values are directly related to the Creator, and because a respect for the riches that are hidden in every creature is nurtured, we will start to see every living thing from a different perspective and in a different manner. In reality, the level of our understanding and appreciation of one another depends on how well we recognize the qualities and riches that each person possesses. We can summarize this concept with a thought based on a saying of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, “A believer is the mirror of another believer.” We can enlarge on this saying as “a human is a mirror of another human.” If we are able to succeed in doing this, as well as being able to understand and appreciate the riches hidden within every person, we will also understand how to relate these riches to their true Owner, and thus we will accept that anything in this universe that is beautiful, affectionate, or loving belongs to Him. A soul that can sense this depth says, as did Rumi, a famous Muslim saint, presenting us tales from the language of the heart: “Come, come and join us, as we are the people of love devoted to God! Come, come through the door of love and join us and sit with us. Come, let us speak one to another through our hearts. Let us speak secretly, without ears and eyes. Let us laugh together without lips or sound, let us laugh like the roses. Like thought, let us see each other without any words or sound. Since we are all the same, let us call each other from our hearts, we won’t use our lips or tongue. As our hands are clasped together, let us talk about it.”

In our present culture, it is not so easy to witness such a deep understanding of these humane feelings and values; we cannot find these easily in Greek or Latin thought or in Western philosophy. Islamic thought sees each one of us as a different manifestation of a unique ore, as different aspects of one reality. Indeed, the people who have gathered around common points, such as the Oneness of God, the Prophet and the religion resemble the limbs of a body. The hand does not need to compete with the foot, the tongue does not criticize the lips, the eye does not see the mistakes of the ears, the heart does not struggle with the mind.

As we are all limbs of the same body, we should cease this duality that violates our very union. We should clear the way to unite people; this is one of the greatest ways in which God grants people success in this world, and how He transforms this world into a Paradise. It is in this way that the doors of Heaven will be opened wide in order to give us a warm welcome. Hence, we should remove all ideas and feelings that pull us apart, and run to embrace one another.

* Two angels, whose story is told in the Qur’an (2:102), taught the fundamentals of magic to people and warned them against abusing it.

To chemically identify substances, scientists around the world are trying to develop artificial taste sensors that mimic the human tongue. Recently researchers at the University of Texas in Austin have developed an electronic sensor that has the potential to detect taste as well as to identify the chemicals of any substances.1 It has uses for food and beverage development as well as medical applications.

Besides the tongue, an electronic nose has also recently been developed to mimic the sense of smell, but it can only detect volatile molecules in the air. Since many chemicals of interest, such as those in food and beverages, are not easily transported into vapor phase, there needs to be a way of detecting a combination of them in solution, such as the electronic tongue.

A team of engineers and chemists in Austin has come up with a prototype of the artificial tongue which resembles the mammalian tongue in some ways. The surface of the human tongue contains cavities which hold chemical receptors known as taste buds. The artificial tongue consists of an array of tiny chemical sensors on a square-centimeter chip. The sensors are actually polymer microbeads placed inside micromachined wells on a silicon wafer which mimics real taste buds on a human tongue. Each bead responds to specific conditions (for example, high acidity or charged ions). A special camera records those colors, which the researchers can then monitor on a computer.

One obvious application of the electronic tongue is in the rapid testing of new foods and beverages; the results could be quickly compared with databases of known popular consumer tastes. When developed further, the electronic tongue should be able to analyze chemical processing streams, biological fluids and other complex mixtures without exposing human beings to possibly harmful substances such as antigens, toxins, and bacteria. For the tasting of ice cream, though, we will likely continue to use our own tongues.

FOOTNOTES

• J.J. Lavigne, S. Savoy, M.B. Clevenger, J.E. Ritchic, B. McDoniel, S.J. Yoo, E.V.
• Ansyln, J. T. McDevitt, J. B. Shear and D. Neikirk, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1998, 120, 6429-6430.
• See also R. Dagani, Chem. & Eng. News, June 29, 1998, 12.

Sound of leaves

Beating in the ear with the force of strong, cold winds

A music of fall

The roses of poetical spring weep everywhere

Colours are plaintive

Nightingales in quiet lands lament

Single melancholy notes

Fountains are lost in thick mists of sorrow

Waters drip tenderly

Swans draw in their slender necks

In the search for spring

Plains groan in tears, hills weep in pangs of separation

Every sound is an elegy

Blue, green, pink and orange colours are in mourning

Each is groaning deeply

Like the last minutes of a life about to terminate

Every wail is a farewall

When looked to carefully, the end of the world is visible

What an alarming scene!

Spring and summer are each an enchanting memory

Lost in romantic fancies

Yet those fancies open to hopes stirring in the conscience

Diverse routes to the realms beyond

Eternity is sensed in each impression of transience,

Until man catches sight of it

Reason and logic are refined to seek out that other world

Reaching the realm of inspiration

Man feels the mysterious silence of death

Problems are resolved finally

Everyone sees the end of the way he treads

Kneels down trembling

Tongue-tied with dread of going into non-existence

Faith opens up a way to new horizons

Sobbing that his inevitable end is at last at hand

Every sends out lights

Thought falls into earth like a seed

To prepare itself for spring

It hastens to where it reaches gardens of Eden

To meet with the beloved

Without feeling pain or anguish

As treasured as a welcome bride,

One overflows with delight to feel eternity

As enrapturing as eternity itself

Fall is the sign that a new birth is on the way

Coming at the break of down

Hope resounds throughout fall without ceasing at all

Spring awaits a few steps away