copula linguae

{{Short description|Embryonic structure of the tongue}}

{{Infobox anatomy

| Name = Copula linguae

| Latin = Copula linguae

| Image = Gray980.png

| Caption = Floor of pharynx of human embryo of about the end of the fourth week.

| Image2 = Gray981.png

| Caption2 = Floor of pharynx of human embryo about thirty days old.

| System =

}}

The copula linguae or copula, is a swelling that forms from the second pharyngeal arch, late in the fourth week of embryogenesis.{{cite book|last1=Larsen|first1=William J.|title=Human embryology|url=https://archive.org/details/humanembryology0003lars|url-access=registration|date=2001|publisher=Churchill Livingstone|location=Philadelphia, Pa.|isbn=0-443-06583-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/humanembryology0003lars/page/373 373]|edition=3.}} During the fifth and sixth weeks the copula becomes overgrown and covered by the hypopharyngeal eminence which forms mostly from the third pharyngeal arch and in part from the fourth pharyngeal arch.