A palatal is a stop. Stops are the pure consonants, and they are divided into three groups, depending on what part of the speech organ is used to stop the air before the sound of the letter is made. A palatal is a stop that is created when the air is restricted in the throat. In Greek, there are three palatals: gamma, kappa, and chi.

Try making the sounds of dentals (gamma, kappa, and chi / g, k, ch). You will easily see the role the throat plays in blocking the escape of air in the process of forming this stop.