Question

The function of the tongue is to?
A. Help in act of swallowing
B. Help is mixing saliva with food
C. Both A and B
D. None of the above

Answer 1

Hint: Tongue is a muscular organ. It is attached to the lower palate or floor of the mouth. It has the following functions:
- It holds the taste buds that help in tasting the food.
- It enables chewing and swallowing of the food.
- It is also accountable for the speech.

Complete answer:
The tongue is one of the muscular organs of the body present in the mouth. The surface of the tongue is covered with moist, pink tissue called the mucosa. The tongue has tiny bumps called papillae that give it a rough texture. The surface of the papillae is covered by thousands of taste buds. It is divided into 3 parts: tip, body, and base. It has two surfaces- dorsal (superior) and ventral (inferior). The tongue is crucial for chewing and swallowing food, and also for speech. The four common flavors the tongue can sense are sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. The tongue consists of many nerves that help detect and transmit these taste signals to the brain.

Option (A) - Help in act of swallowing
One of the main functions of the tongue as a digestive organ is to facilitate the movement of food during mastication and help in swallowing.

Option (B) - Help is mixing saliva with food
Other important functions of the tongue include speech and taste. Our teeth enable our tongue to grind food and mix the food with saliva around your mouth.
A dry tongue can't taste anything. So, saliva keeps the tongue wet. Saliva also moistens food and helps to break it down, which makes it easier for the tongue to push the food back to swallow it.

So, The function of the tongue is both the act of swallowing and helping in mixing saliva with the food.
Hence, the correct answer is option (C).

Note: The tongue is unique because it is the only muscle that isn't connected to bone at both ends. It is connected on one edge to the hyoid bone, which is also different as it is the only bone not connected to any other bone in the body.