The Predator in the Pool - S5-E18
Character mistake: When Bones and Dr Hodgins, who is proclaimed as a seasoned diver in a previous episode, are in the tank, Bones gives an instruction and Hodgins replies with a thumbs up. Since Bones is diving as well, they both would know from certification (without which neither would be allowed to dive in the facility) classes that a thumbs up is the hand signal for "I'm ascending", not OK or any form of acknowledgement. They either are not certified divers or they should have immediately surfaced. (00:06:30)
Answer: Since the palatine bone is a bone that helps form the mouth it has a lot to do with speaking. The shape of it differs a lot depending on your ethnic background. I would guess that they, in the show, meant that the person's bone tells that they were Japanese and that it was "made for the purpose of speaking Japanese." That's what I'd assume anyway. I've studied molecular biology though, so I'm not an expert on bones.