En-ge explained

En-ge (Ҥ ҥ; italics:

Ҥ ҥ) is a letter of the Cyrillic script used only in non-Slavic languages. The shape of the letter originated as a ligature of the Cyrillic letters en (Н н) and ge (Г г), but en-ge is used as a separate letter in alphabets.

En-ge is used in the alphabets of the Altai languages, Meadow Mari, Tundra Yukaghir (except in some Saint Petersburg publications, where it is substituted with En with hook) and Yakut. In all of these languages, it represents the voiced velar nasal pronounced as //ŋ//, like the pronunciation of ⟨ng⟩ in "sing".

En-ge was also used in two 19th-century alphabets for Aleut.

In certain Old Slavonic manuscripts, a character of the same or similar shape could be used to represent palatalized pronounced as //nʲ//, a role similar to modern Serbian/Macedonian letter nje (Њ њ). These manuscripts also may contain similarly built characters for palatalized Д, З, Л and Р (d, z, l, and r).

Ҥ is romanized using Ṅ, Ng, or even Ŋ.

Related letters and other similar characters

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