The tongue is a muscular organ in your mouth. It has many nerves and blood vessels, which make it sensitive to touch and temperature. Its soft covering is called a mucous membrane. It weighs between 3 and 3.5 ounces and is typically just short of four inches long.
The tongue has two parts: the oral (at the front) and the pharyngeal (at the back). You see the front of the tongue when you stick it out, and you see the back when the doctor says, “Open wide and say Aaaaah.” The line down the middle of your tongue is called the median sulcus.
The tongue is a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic muscles, making it very strong and capable of moving around. The four tiny intrinsic muscles help alter the shape of the tongue but are not attached to bone. The four extrinsic muscles are attached to bone in pairs, allowing the tongue to change position. So, both are necessary to help the tongue move around, making it an important part of the digestive system. Assisted by the intrinsic and extrinsic muscles, the tongue also plays an essential role in man’s ability to speak.
The tongue begins to develop in the fourth week of embryonic development.
The body of the tongue is located in the central part between the front and the back of the tongue. It helps us talk, eat, and taste. It is covered with tiny taste buds, 2,000-8,000 of them, and approximately every 10 days, you get new ones. The taste buds help us discern between sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami (savory, a rich meaty taste). The tongue helps us move food around to thoroughly chew and swallow it. It is also a natural way of keeping our teeth clean.
Did You Know? Dogs have only 1,700 taste buds on their tongues, but they are able to taste water. Whole-dog-journal.com/food/do-dogs-have-taste-buds
There are a number of diseases that affect the tongue including oral cancer, thrush, canker sores, and black hair tongue—a harmless, but particularly disgusting-looking condition. Then there is that white film. It appears when food and bacteria are caught between the tiny bumps on the surface of the tongue. It can mean that your tongue is dry because the body is dehydrated from an inadequate intake of water, poor hygiene, not flossing or brushing your teeth properly (yes, there is a right way), certain medications, and acid reflux.
As with all the parts that make up man’s anatomy, the tongue is a marvel. And it is also a curse.
“And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
“For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.
“But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.
“Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren these things ought not to be so.” James 3:6–10
“Guard well the talent of speech, for it is a mighty power for evil as well as for good. You cannot be too careful of what you say; for the words you utter show what power is controlling the heart.” In Heavenly Places, 174
“The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity … it defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 19, 33
Sources: humanbodypartsanatomy.com/tongue-anatomy-parts-names-functions-diagram; Wikipedia.org/wiki/Taste_bud