From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
Voiced dental and alveolar nasals
Consonantal sounds represented by ⟨n⟩ in IPA
Consonantal sounds represented by ⟨n⟩ in IPA
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| ipa symbol | n |
| ipa number | 116 |
| decimal | 110 |
| x-sampa | n |
| braille | 1345 |
| imagefile | IPA Unicode 0x006E.svg |
|x-sampa=n |x-sampa=n_d A voiced alveolar nasal is a type of consonantal sound used in numerous spoken languages. It is familiar to English-speakers as the "n" sound in "nice". The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar nasals is .
The vast majority of languages have either an alveolar or dental nasal. There are a few languages that lack either sound but have , such as Yoruba, Palauan, and colloquial Samoan (however, these languages all have . An example of a language without and is Edo). There are some languages (e.g. Rotokas) that lack both and .
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 dental n. It is found in the Mapuche language of South America, where it is actually interdental. A true dental generally occurs allophonically before 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 voiced postalveolar nasal occurs in a number of Australian Aboriginal languages, including Djeebbana and Jingulu.
Features
Features of a voiced alveolar nasal:
- There are four specific variants of :
- Dental, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the upper teeth, termed respectively apical and laminal.
- Denti-alveolar, which means it is articulated with the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, and the tip of the tongue behind upper teeth.
- Alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
- Postalveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
Occurrence
Dental or [[Denti-alveolar consonant|denti-alveolar]]
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belarusian | новы/novy | 'new' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Contrasts with palatalized form. See Belarusian phonology | |
| Bulgarian | жена/žena | 'woman' | Laminal denti-alveolar. | |
| Catalan | General | cantar | 'to sing' | |
| Central, North-Western | *punt* | [ˈpun̪] | 'point' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Word-final realisation of /nt/ in dialects of Catalonia; Valencian retains [nt]. |
| Chuvash | шăна/šăna | [ʃɒn̪a] | 'a fly' | |
| Dutch | Belgian | nicht | 'niece' | |
| English | *month* | 'month' | Interdental. Allophone of before . | |
| Esperanto | Esperanto | 'one who hopes' | See Esperanto phonology | |
| Finnish | ranta | 'beach' | Allophone of before . | |
| French | connexion | 'connection' | Laminal denti-alveolar, sometimes simply alveolar. See French phonology | |
| Greek | άνθος/ánthos | 'flower' | Interdental. Allophone of . See Modern Greek phonology | |
| Hindustani | Hindi | नया/najā | 'new' | |
| Urdu | نیا/najā | |||
| Hmong | White Hmong | /noj | 'eat' | |
| Hungarian | nagyi | 'grandma' | Laminal denti-alveolar. See Hungarian phonology | |
| Italian | cantare | 'to sing' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of before . See Italian phonology | |
| Irish | naoi | 'nine' | Velarized. | |
| Japanese | 涙/namida | [n̪ämʲid̪ä] | 'tear' | Laminal denti-alveolar. See Japanese phonology |
| Kashubian | naprësk | 'shower' | Laminal denti-alveolar. | |
| Kazakh | көрінді/körindi/ٴكورىندى | 'it seemed' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of before . | |
| Kyrgyz | беделинде/bedelinde | 'in the authority' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of before . | |
| Latvian | nakts | 'night' | Laminal denti-alveolar. See Latvian phonology | |
| Macedonian | нос/nos | 'nose' | Laminal denti-alveolar. See Macedonian phonology | |
| Malayalam | നായ/nāya | 'dog' | Interdental for some speakers. See Malayalam phonology | |
| Mapudungun | müṉa | 'male cousin on father's side' | Interdental. | |
| Marathi | नख/nakh | 'fingernail' | See Marathi phonology | |
| Nepali | सुगन्ध | 'fraɡrance' | Allophone of /n/ in neighbourhood of /t̪, t̪ʰ, d̪, d̪ʱ/. | |
| Polish | nos | 'nose' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Alveolar before . See Polish phonology | |
| Portuguese | General | narina | 'nostril' | |
| Vernacular Paulista | percebendo | 'perceiving' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of after a stressed nasal vowel in more stigmatized varieties. See Portuguese phonology | |
| Romanian | alună | 'hazelnut' | Laminal denti-alveolar. See Romanian phonology | |
| Russian | наш/naš | 'our' | Laminal denti-alveolar, contrasts with palatalized form. See Russian phonology | |
| Scottish Gaelic | nàdar | 'nature' | Velarized. Contrasts with alveolar and palatal . | |
| Serbo-Croatian | студент/student | 'student' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of before . See Serbo-Croatian phonology | |
| Slovene | prevarant | 'con artist' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of before . See Slovene phonology | |
| Spanish | Most dialects | cantar | 'to sing' | |
| Swahili | Bajuni dialect | paṉa/pan̪a/pan’a | 'rat' | |
| Tamil | நாடு/nāḍu | 'country' | See Tamil phonology | |
| Telugu | నములుట/namuluṭa | 'To chew' | Occurs as an allophone of anuswara when followed by dental stops. | |
| Ukrainian | наш/nash | 'our' | Laminal denti-alveolar, contrasts with palatalized form. See Ukrainian phonology | |
| Uzbek | нимa/nima/نىمه | [n̪imæ] | 'what' | Laminal denti-alveolar. |
Alveolar
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adyghe | нэфнэ/nėfnė | 'light' | |||
| Arabic | Standard | نور/nūr | 'light' | ||
| Assyrian | ܢܘܪܐ/nōra | ] | 'mirror' | ||
| Basque | ni | 'I' | |||
| Bengali | নাক/naak/nāk | 'nose' | See Bengali phonology | ||
| Cantonese | 年/nìhn | [ni:n˨˩] | 'year' | See Cantonese phonology | |
| Catalan | neu | 'snow' | See Catalan phonology | ||
| Czech | na | 'on' | See Czech phonology | ||
| Dutch | nacht | 'night' | See Dutch phonology | ||
| English | *nice* | 'nice' | See English phonology | ||
| Finnish | annan | 'I give' | See Finnish phonology | ||
| German | fünf | 'five' | See German phonology | ||
| Georgian | კანი/k'ani | 'skin' | |||
| Greek | νάμα/náma | 'communion wine' | See Modern Greek phonology | ||
| Gujarati | નહી/nahi | 'no' | See Gujarati phonology | ||
| Hawaiian | naka | 'to shake' | See Hawaiian phonology | ||
| Hebrew | נבון/navon | 'wise' | See Modern Hebrew phonology | ||
| Italian | nano | 'dwarf' | See Italian phonology | ||
| Irish | binn | 'peak' | Palatalized. | ||
| Khmer | នគរ nôkôr | 'kingdom' | See Khmer phonology | ||
| Korean | 나라/nara | 'Country' | See Korean phonology | ||
| Kurdish | Northern | giyanewer | 'animal' | ||
| Central | گیانلەبەر/gîyânlabar | ||||
| Southern | |||||
| Kyrgyz | банан/banan | 'banana' | |||
| Malay | nasi | 'cooked rice' | |||
| Malayalam | ആന | [äːnə] | 'elephant' | See Malayalam phonology | |
| Maltese | lenbuba | 'truncheon' | |||
| Mandarin | 難/难/nán | 'difficult' | See Mandarin phonology | ||
| Mapudungun | müna | 'enough' | |||
| Ngwe | Mmockngie dialect | 'sun' | |||
| Nepali | नक्कल/nakkal | 'imitation' | See Nepali phonology | ||
| Odia | ନାକ/nāka | 'nose' | |||
| Okinawan | ʻnmu | 'potato' | Can occur as onset, nucleus, or coda. Allophone of [m], [ŋ], and [ɴ] in coda, but phonemic elsewhere. | ||
| Persian | نون/nun | [nun] | 'bread' | ||
| Pirahã | gíxai | 'you' | |||
| Polish | poncz | 'punch' | Allophone of (which is normally laminal denti-alveolar ) before . See Polish phonology | ||
| Punjabi | ਨੱਕ/nakk | 'nose' | |||
| Scottish Gaelic | anail | 'breath' | Contrasts with velarised dental and palatal . | ||
| Slovak | na | 'on' | |||
| Slovene | Common | novice | 'news' | ||
| Some speakers | konj | 'horse' | See Slovene phonology | ||
| Spanish | nada | 'nothing' | See Spanish phonology | ||
| Swahili | ndizi | [n̩dizi] | 'banana' | ||
| Tagalog | nipis | 'thin' | Tagalog phonology | ||
| Thai | นอน/non | [nɔːn] | 'sleep' | See Thai phonology | |
| Toki Pona | *noka* | [noka] | 'foot' | ||
| Turkish | neden | 'reason' | See Turkish phonology | ||
| Tamil | மனசு/manasu | 'mind', 'heart' | See Tamil phonology | ||
| Vietnamese | bạn đi | 'you're going' | Occurs only before alveolar consonants. See Vietnamese phonology | ||
| Welsh | nain | 'grandmother' | See Welsh phonology | ||
| Western Apache | non | 'cache' | |||
| West Frisian | nekke | 'neck' | |||
| Yi | ꆅ/na | 'hurt' | |||
| Zapotec | Tilquiapan | *nanɨɨ* | 'lady' |
Postalveolar
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bengali | কণ্ঠ | 'voice' | Allophone of after and before postalveolar . See Bengali phonology | |
| Catalan | panxa | 'belly' | Allophone of before , may be alveolo-palatal instead. See Catalan phonology | |
| Djeebbana | *barnmarramarlón̠a* | 'they two swam' | Result of rhotic plus alveolar . | |
| English | Australian | *enrol* | 'enrol' | |
| Italian | angelo | 'angel' | Palatalized laminal; allophone of before . See Italian phonology |
Variable
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Scottish | *nice* | 'nice' | |
| Welsh | ||||
| German | Standard | Lanze | 'lance' | |
| Norwegian | Urban East | mann | 'man' | |
| Swedish | Central Standard | nu | 'now' |
Notes
References
- {{citation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211020607/http://www.kent.ac.uk/secl/ell/staff/amalia-arvaniti/docs/Greek%20Phonetics%20-%20The%20State%20of%20the%20Art.pdf |archive-date=2013-12-11
- {{citation |doi-access=free
- {{cite journal |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free
- {{citation
- {{citation |trans-title=Handbook of Italian Pronunciation
- {{citation
- {{citation
- {{citation
- {{citation
- {{cite book
- {{citation
- {{citation
- {{citation |author-link = Wiktor Jassem |doi-access=free
- {{citation
- {{citation |doi-access=free
- {{citation
- {{citation |author-link=Gjert Kristoffersen
- {{citation |author-link=Peter Ladefoged
- {{citation
- {{citation |author-link=Max Mangold |orig-year=First published 1962
- {{citation |access-date=2014-06-18 |archive-date=2014-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707194447/http://clas.mq.edu.au/speech/phonetics/transcription/phonetic_transcription/phonetic_transcription.html |url-status=dead
- {{citation |doi-access= free
- {{citation
- {{citation |doi-access=free
- {{citation
- {{Citation
- {{citation |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/rosettaproject_jpn_phon-2
- {{citation
- {{citation
- {{citation
- {{Citation
- {{citation
- {{citation |doi-access= free
- {{citation |doi-access=free
- {{Cite journal |access-date=2014-06-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031140/http://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/149/1/wp-7.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead
- {{citation |doi-access=free
- {{citation
- {{citation
- {{citation
- {{citation
- {{citation |author-link=John C. Wells
References
- Chadwick, Neil J.. (1975). "A descriptive study of the Djingili language". Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.
- Jerzy Treder. "Fonetyka i fonologia".
- {{in lang. pt [http://www.acervodigital.unesp.br/handle/123456789/36671 Unesp's digital collection – The deleting of /d/ in the morpheme of the gerund in São José do Rio Preto's accent] {{webarchive. link. (2012-12-31)
- {{in lang. pt [http://www.athena.biblioteca.unesp.br/exlibris/bd/brp/33004153069P5/2010/ferreira_js_me_sjrp.pdf The deletting of /d/ in the morpheme of the gerund in São José do Rio Preto's accent – PDF]
- Swaleh, Rukiya. (2024). "Bajuni land, language and orature". Twaweza Communications Ltd.
- Njogu, Kimani. (2024). "Bajuni land, language and orature". Twaweza Communications Ltd.
- Valencian pronunciation: {{IPA. ['pän̠t͡ɕä]. What are transcribed {{IPA. /ʃ, ʒ, t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/ in Catalan are actually alveolo-palatal sibilants {{IPA. [{{IPAplink. ɕ, {{IPAplink. ʑ, {{IPAplink. t͡ɕ, {{IPAplink. d͡ʑ].
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
Ask Mako anything about Voiced dental and alveolar nasals — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report