| Ipa Number: | 116 |
| Decimal: | 110 |
| X-Sampa: | n |
| Kirshenbaum: | n |
| Braille: | 1345 |
The voiced alveolar nasal is a type of consonantal sound used in numerous spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar nasals is (IPA|n), and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is n.
The vast majority of languages have either an alveolar or dental nasal. There are a few languages that lack either sound but have pronounced as /[m]/, such as Yoruba, Palauan, and colloquial Samoan (however, these languages all have pronounced as /[ŋ]/. An example of a language without pronounced as /[n]/ and pronounced as /[ŋ]/ is Edo). There are some languages (e.g. Rotokas) that lack both pronounced as /[m]/ and pronounced as /[n]/.
True dental consonants are relatively uncommon. In the Romance, Dravidian, and Australian languages, n is often called "dental" in the literature. However, the rearmost contact, which gives a consonant its distinctive sound, is actually alveolar or denti-alveolar. The difference between the Romance languages and English is not so much where the tongue contacts the roof of the mouth but the part of the tongue that makes contact. In English, it is the tip of the tongue (such sounds are termed apical), but in the Romance languages, it is the flat of the tongue just above the tip (such sounds are called laminal).
However, there are languages with true apical (or less commonly laminal) dental n. It is found in the Mapuche language of South America, where it is actually interdental. A true dental generally occurs allophonically before pronounced as //θ// in the languages that have it, as in English tenth. Similarly, a denti-alveolar allophone occurs in languages that have denti-alveolar stops, as in Spanish cinta.
Some languages contrast laminal denti-alveolar and apical alveolar nasals. For example, in the Malayalam pronunciation of Nārāyanan, the first n is dental, the second is retroflex, and the third alveolar.
A postalveolar nasal occurs in a number of Australian Aboriginal languages, including Djeebbana and Jingulu.[1]
Features of the voiced alveolar nasal:
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belarusian: [[Belarusian alphabet|'''н'''овы]]/novy | pronounced as /[ˈn̪ovɨ]/ | 'new' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Contrasts with palatalized form. See Belarusian phonology | ||
| Macedonian: [[Macedonian alphabet|же'''н'''а]]/žena | pronounced as /[ʒɛˈn̪a]/ | 'woman' | Laminal denti-alveolar. | ||
| Catalan; Valencian: [[Catalan alphabet|ca'''n'''tar]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[kɐ̃n̪ˈt̪ɑ(ɾ)]/ | 'to sing' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of pronounced as //n// before pronounced as //t, d//. See Catalan phonology | ||
| Chuvash | шăна/šăna | [ʃɒn̪a] | 'a fly' | ||
| Dutch; Flemish: [[Dutch orthography|'''n'''icht]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[n̻ɪxt̻]/ | 'niece' | Laminal denti-alveolar, sometimes simply alveolar. See Dutch phonology | ||
| month | pronounced as /[mʌn̪θ]/ | 'month' | Interdental. Allophone of pronounced as //n// before pronounced as //θ, ð//. | ||
| Esperanto: [[Esperanto orthography|Espera'''n'''to]]|italic=yes | 'one who hopes' | See Esperanto phonology | |||
| Finnish: [[Finnish orthography|ra'''n'''ta]]|italic=yes | 'beach' | Allophone of pronounced as //n// before pronounced as //t̪//. | |||
| French: [[French orthography|co'''nn'''exion]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[kɔn̻ɛksjɔ̃]/ | 'connection' | Laminal denti-alveolar, sometimes simply alveolar. See French phonology | ||
| Greek, Modern (1453-);: [[Greek alphabet|ά'''ν'''θος]]/Greek, Modern (1453-);: [[Romanization of Greek|á'''n'''thos]] | pronounced as /[ˈɐn̪θo̞s]/ | 'flower' | Interdental. Allophone of pronounced as //n//. See Modern Greek phonology | ||
| Hindustani | Hindi | Hindi: [[Devanāgarī|'''न'''या]] / najā | pronounced as /[n̪əjaː]/ | 'new' | See Hindi–Urdu phonology |
| Urdu | Urdu: [[Urdu alphabet|نیا]]|rtl=yes / najā | ||||
| Hungarian: [[Hungarian orthography|'''n'''agyi]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ˈn̪ɒɟi]/ | 'grandma' | Laminal denti-alveolar. See Hungarian phonology | ||
| Italian: [[Italian alphabet|ca'''n'''tare]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[kän̪ˈt̪äːre]/ | 'to sing' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of pronounced as //n// before pronounced as //t, d, s, z, t͡s, d͡z//. See Italian phonology | ||
| Irish: '''na'''oi | pronounced as /[n̪ˠɰiː]/ | 'nine' | Velarized. | ||
| Japanese | 涙/namida | [n̪ämʲid̪ä] | 'tear' | Laminal denti-alveolar. See Japanese phonology | |
| Polish: '''n'''aprësk | pronounced as /[n̪aprəsk]/ | 'shower' | Laminal denti-alveolar.[2] | ||
| Kazakh: [[Kazakh alphabets|көрі'''н'''ді/köri'''n'''di]] | pronounced as /[kœɾɪn̪d̪ɪ]/ | 'it seemed' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of pronounced as //n// before pronounced as //t, d//. | ||
| Kazakh: [[Kyrgyz alphabets|бедели'''н'''де]]/bedelinde | pronounced as /[be̞d̪e̞lin̪d̪e̞]/ | 'in the authority' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of pronounced as //n// before pronounced as //t, d//. | ||
| Latvian: [[Latvian alphabet|'''n'''akts]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[n̪äkt̪s̪]/ | 'night' | Laminal denti-alveolar. See Latvian phonology | ||
| Macedonian | Macedonian: [[Macedonian alphabet|'''н'''ос]]/nos | pronounced as /[n̪o̞s̪]/ | 'nose' | Laminal denti-alveolar. See Macedonian phonology | |
| Malayalam: [[Malayalam script|പന്നി]]/panni | pronounced as /[pɐn̪ːi]/ | 'pig' | Interdental for some speakers. See Malayalam phonology | ||
| Mapudungun; Mapuche: [[Mapudungun alphabet|mü'''ṉ'''a]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[mɘ̝ˈn̪ɐ̝]/ | 'male cousin on father's side' | Interdental. | ||
| Marathi | Marathi: [[Devanāgarī|'''न'''ख]]/nakh | pronounced as /[n̪əkʰ]/ | 'fingernail' | See Marathi phonology | |
| Nepali | [[Devanāgarī|सुग'''न्ध''']] | pronounced as /[suˈɡʌn̪d̪ʱʌ]/ | 'fraɡrance' | Allophone of /n/ in neighbourhood of /t̪, t̪ʰ, d̪, d̪ʱ/. | |
| Polish: [[Polish alphabet|'''n'''os]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[n̪ɔs̪]/ | 'nose' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Alveolar before pronounced as //t͡ʂ, d͡ʐ//. See Polish phonology | ||
| General | Portuguese: [[Portuguese orthography|'''n'''arina]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[n̻ɐˈɾin̻ɐ]/ | 'nostril' | Laminal denti-alveolar. May nasalize preceding vowel (especially if stressed). Has pronounced as /link/ as allophone, forming from clusters with pronounced as /link/, and before pronounced as //i//. | |
| Vernacular Paulista[3] [4] | Portuguese: perceben'''d'''o|italic=yes | pronounced as /[pe̞ʁse̞ˈbẽn̻u]/ | 'perceiving' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of pronounced as /link/ after a stressed nasal vowel in more stigmatized varieties. See Portuguese phonology | |
| Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: [[Romanian alphabet|alu'''n'''ă]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[äˈl̪un̪ə]/ | 'hazelnut' | Laminal denti-alveolar. See Romanian phonology | ||
| Russian: [[Russian alphabet|'''н'''аш]]/nash | pronounced as /[n̪aʂ]/ | 'our' | Laminal denti-alveolar, contrasts with palatalized form. See Russian phonology | ||
| [[Cyrillic script|студе'''н'''т]] / stude'''n'''t | pronounced as /[s̪t̪ǔd̪e̞n̪t̪]/ | 'student' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of pronounced as //n// before pronounced as //t, d, s, z, t͡s//. See Serbo-Croatian phonology | ||
| Slovenian: [[Slovene orthography|prevara'''n'''t]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[pɾeʋaˈɾǎːn̪t̪]/ | 'con artist' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of pronounced as //n// before pronounced as //t, d, s, z, t͡s//. See Slovene phonology | ||
| Most dialects | Spanish; Castilian: [[Spanish orthography|ca'''n'''tar]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[kän̪ˈt̪är]/ | 'to sing' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of pronounced as //n// before pronounced as //t, d//. See Spanish phonology | |
| [[Tamil script|'''நா'''டு]]/nāḍu | pronounced as /[n̪ɑːɖɯ]/ | 'country' | See Tamil phonology | ||
| Telugu: [[Telugu script|'''న'''ములుట]] | pronounced as / [n̪amu]/ | 'To chew' | Occurs as an allophone of anuswara when followed by dental stops. | ||
| Ukrainian: [[Ukrainian alphabet|'''н'''аш]]/nash | pronounced as /[n̪ɑʃ]/ | 'our' | Laminal denti-alveolar, contrasts with palatalized form. See Ukrainian phonology | ||
| Laminal denti-alveolar. | |||||
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kabardian: [[Cyrillic script|'''н'''эф'''н'''э]]/nėfnė | pronounced as /[nafna]/ | 'light' | ||||
| Arabic | Standard | Arabic: [[Arabic alphabet|نور]]|rtl=yes/nūr | pronounced as /[nuːr]/ | 'light' | See Arabic phonology | |
| Assyrian | ܢܘܪܐ/nōra | pronounced as /[noːɾaː]/] | 'mirror' | |||
| Basque | Basque: [[Basque alphabet|'''n'''i]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ni]/ | 'I' | |||
| Bengali: [[Bengali alphabet|নাক]]/naak/nāk | pronounced as /[naːk]/ | 'nose' | See Bengali phonology | |||
| Cantonese | 年/nìhn | [ni:n˨˩] | 'year' | See Cantonese phonology | ||
| Catalan | Catalan; Valencian: [[Catalan orthography|'''n'''eu]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ˈneʊ̯]/ | 'snow' | See Catalan phonology | ||
| Czech: [[Czech orthography|'''n'''a]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[na]/ | 'on' | See Czech phonology | |||
| Dutch; Flemish: [[Dutch alphabet|'''n'''acht]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[nɑxt]/ | 'night' | See Dutch phonology | |||
| nice | 'nice' | See English phonology | ||||
| Finnish: [[Finnish alphabet|a'''nn'''a'''n''']]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ˈɑnːɑn]/ | 'I give' | See Finnish phonology | |||
| pronounced as /[fʏnf]/ | 'five' | See German phonology | ||||
| Georgian: [[Georgian alphabet|კა'''ნ'''ი]]/k'ani | pronounced as /[ˈkʼɑni]/ | 'skin' | ||||
| Greek, Modern (1453-);: [[Greek alphabet|'''ν'''άμα]]/Greek, Modern (1453-);: [[Romanization of Greek|'''n'''áma]] | pronounced as /[ˈnama]/ | 'communion wine' | See Modern Greek phonology | |||
| Gujarati: [[Gujarati alphabet|'''ન'''હી]]/nahi | pronounced as /[nəhi]/ | 'no' | See Gujarati phonology | |||
| Hawaiian: [[Hawaiian alphabet|'''n'''aka]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[naka]/ | 'to shake' | See Hawaiian phonology | |||
| Hebrew: [[Hebrew orthography|'''נ'''בו'''ן''']]|rtl=yes/navon | pronounced as /[navon]/ | 'wise' | See Modern Hebrew phonology | |||
| Italian: [[Italian alphabet|'''n'''a'''n'''o]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ˈnäːno]/ | 'dwarf' | See Italian phonology | |||
| Irish: binn | pronounced as /[bʲiːnʲ]/ | 'peak' | Palatalized. | |||
| Central Khmer: [[Khmer script|នគរ]] Central Khmer: '''n'''ôkôr | pronounced as /[nɔkɔː]/ | 'kingdom' | See Khmer phonology | |||
| Korean: [[Hangul|나라]]/Korean: [[Revised Romanization of Korean|'''n'''ara]] | pronounced as /[nɐɾɐ]/ | 'Country' | See Korean phonology | |||
| Kurdish | Northern | Kurdish: [[Kurdish alphabet|giya'''n'''ewer]] | pronounced as /[ˈgʲɪjä:ˈnɛwɛˈɾ]/ | 'animal' | See Kurdish phonology | |
| Central | Kurdish: [[Kurdish alphabet|گیانلەبەر]]/gîyânlabar | pronounced as /[ˈgʲiːäːnˈlæbæˈɾ]/ | ||||
| Southern | pronounced as /[ˈgʲiːäːnˈlabaˈɾ]/ | |||||
| Kirghiz; Kyrgyz: [[Kyrgyz alphabet|ба'''н'''а'''н''']]/banan | pronounced as /[baˈnan]/ | 'banana' | ||||
| Malay: [[Malay alphabet|'''n'''asi]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[näsi]/ | 'cooked rice' | ||||
| Malayalam: [[Malayalam script|ആ'''ന''']] | pronounced as /[äːn]/ | 'elephant' | See Malayalam phonology | |||
| Maltese | Maltese: [[Maltese alphabet|le'''n'''buba]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[lenbuˈba]/ | 'truncheon' | |||
| Mandarin | 難/难/[[Hanyu Pinyin|'''n'''á'''n''']] | pronounced as /[nan˧˥]/ | 'difficult' | See Mandarin phonology | ||
| Mapudungun; Mapuche: [[Mapudungun alphabet|mü'''n'''a]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[mɘ̝ˈnɐ̝]/ | 'enough' | ||||
| Ngwe | Mmockngie dialect | pronounced as /[nøɣə̀]/ | 'sun' | |||
| Nepali | [[Devanāgarī|'''न'''क्कल]]/nakkal | pronounced as /[nʌkːʌl]/ | 'imitation' | See Nepali phonology | ||
| Oriya: [[Odia script|ନାକ]]/nāka | pronounced as /[näkɔ]/ | 'nose' | ||||
| ʻ'''n'''mu | pronounced as /[ʔn̩mu]/ | 'potato' | Can occur as onset, nucleus, or coda. Allophone of [m], [ŋ], and [ɴ] in coda, but phonemic elsewhere. | |||
| Persian | نون/nun | [nun] | 'bread' | |||
| '''g'''íxai | pronounced as /[níˈʔàì̯]/ | 'you' | ||||
| Polish: [[Polish alphabet|po'''n'''cz]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ˈpɔn̥t͡ʂ]/ | 'punch' | Allophone of pronounced as //n// (which is normally laminal denti-alveolar pronounced as /link/) before pronounced as //t͡ʂ, d͡ʐ//. See Polish phonology | |||
| ਨੱਕ/nakk | pronounced as /[nəkː]/ | 'nose' | ||||
| Slovak: [[Slovak alphabet|'''n'''a]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[nä]/ | 'on' | ||||
| Common | Slovenian: [[Slovene orthography|'''n'''ovice]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[noˈʋìːt̪͡s̪ɛ́]/ | 'news' | |||
| Some speakers | Slovenian: [[Slovene orthography|ko'''nj''']]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ˈkɔ̂nː]/ | 'horse' | See Slovene phonology | ||
| Spanish; Castilian: [[Spanish orthography|'''n'''ada]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ˈnäð̞ä]/ | 'nothing' | See Spanish phonology | |||
| Swahili | ndizi | [n̩dizi] | 'banana' | |||
| Tagalog: [[Tagalog alphabet|'''n'''ipis]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[nipis]/ | 'thin' | Tagalog phonology | |||
| Thai | / | [nɔːn] | 'sleep' | See Thai phonology | ||
| Toki Pona | noka | [noka] | 'foot' | |||
| Turkish: [[Turkish alphabet|'''n'''ede'''n''']]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ne̞d̪æn]/ | 'reason' | See Turkish phonology | |||
| [[Tamil script|ம'''ன'''சு]]/manasu | pronounced as /[mʌnʌsɯ]/ | 'mind', 'heart' | See Tamil phonology | |||
| Vietnamese: [[Vietnamese alphabet|bạ'''n''' đi]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ɓanˀ˧˨ʔ ɗi]/ | 'you're going' | Occurs only before alveolar consonants. See Vietnamese phonology | |||
| Welsh: [[Welsh alphabet|'''n'''ai'''n''']]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[nain]/ | 'grandmother' | See Welsh phonology | |||
| Western Apache | '''n'''on|italic=yes | 'cache' | ||||
| West Frisian | Western Frisian: '''n'''ekke|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ˈnɛkə]/ | 'neck' | |||
| Sichuan Yi; Nuosu: [[Yi script|ꆅ]]/Sichuan Yi; Nuosu: [[Yi script|'''n'''a]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[na˧ ]/ | 'hurt' | ||||
| Zapotec | nanɨɨ | pronounced as /[nanɨˀɨ]/ | 'lady' | contrasts with a fortis alveolar nasal that is not represented in the orthography. | ||
See also: Retroflex nasal.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catalan; Valencian: [[Catalan alphabet|pa'''n'''xa]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /['pän̠ɕə]/[5] | 'belly' | Allophone of pronounced as //n// before pronounced as //ʃ, ʒ, t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ//, may be alveolo-palatal instead. See Catalan phonology | |||
| barnmarramarlón̠a | pronounced as /[ban̠maramal̠ɔn̪a]/ | 'they two swam' | Result of rhotic plus alveolar pronounced as /[n]/. | |||
| enrol | pronounced as /[əṉˈɹ̠ɔo̯ɫ]/ | 'enrol' | Allophone of pronounced as //n// before pronounced as //r//. See Australian English phonology | |||
| Italian: [[Italian alphabet|a'''n'''gelo]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ˈän̠ʲːd͡ʒelo]/ | 'angel' | Palatalized laminal; allophone of pronounced as //n// before pronounced as //ʃ, t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ//. See Italian phonology | |||
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nice | pronounced as /[nəis]/ | 'nice' | Laminal denti-alveolar for some speakers, alveolar for other speakers. | |||
| Welsh | ||||||
| German: [[German orthography|La'''n'''ze]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[ˈlant͡sə]/ | 'lance' | Varies between laminal denti-alveolar, laminal alveolar and apical alveolar. See Standard German phonology | |||
| Norwegian: [[Norwegian alphabet|ma'''nn''']]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[mɑn̻ː]/ | 'man' | Varies between laminal denti-alveolar and laminal alveolar. See Norwegian phonology | |||
| Central Standard | Swedish: [[Swedish alphabet|'''n'''u]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[nʉ̟ː]/ | 'now' | Varies between laminal denti-alveolar and alveolar, with the former being predominant. See Swedish phonology | ||
pronounced as /navigation/