Anatomy of the muscles of the tongue and neck

As for the muscles that move the tongue, there are nine of them. Two muscles, transverse, come from the sagittal processes and are adjacent to both sides of the tongue. The exit point for the other two, longitudinal ones, is at the upper part of the lambdoid bone; they are adjacent to the middle of the tongue.

The two muscles that move the tongue obliquely grow from the lower rib of the lambdoid bone and pass in the tongue between the longitudinal and transverse muscles.

Two muscles lower and rotate the tongue; they are located below those muscles that we have just mentioned, and their fibers extend crosswise under them, adjoining the entire bone of the lower jaw.

Among the muscles of the tongue, a single muscle is sometimes mentioned that connects the tongue and the lambdoid bone and pulls them towards each other.

It is not hidden that the muscle that pulls the tongue outward moves it this way because it itself can move and stretch, and is also capable of retracting and contracting.

There are two pairs of muscles that move only the neck: the pair on the right and the pair on the left. When one muscle of a pair contracts, the neck is pulled towards it, obliquely; if two muscles contract simultaneously on one side, then the neck tilts in that direction, not obliquely, but straight. When all four muscles act at once, the neck stands straight and does not bend.