Voiced palatal nasal

A voiced palatal nasal is a type of consonant used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɲ⟩, a lowercase letter n with a leftward-pointing tail protruding from the bottom of the left stem of the letter. The letter ⟨ɲ⟩ is visually similar to ⟨ɳ⟩, the symbol for the retroflex nasal, which has a rightward-pointing hook extending from the bottom of the right stem, and to ⟨ŋ⟩, the symbol for the velar nasal, which has a leftward-pointing hook extending from the bottom of the right stem.

Voiced palatal nasal
ɲ
ʔ̃ʲ
IPA number118
Audio sample
source · help
Encoding
Entity (decimal)ɲ
Unicode (hex)U+0272
X-SAMPAJ
Braille
Voiced alveolo-palatal nasal
n̠ʲ
ɲ᫈

The IPA symbol derives from ⟨n⟩ and ⟨j⟩, ⟨n⟩ for nasality and ⟨j⟩ denoting palatalization. In Spanish and languages whose writing systems are influenced by Spanish orthography, it is represented by the letter ⟨ñ⟩, called eñe ([ˈeɲe]). In French and Italian orthographies the sound is represented by the digraph ⟨gn⟩. Occitan uses the digraph ⟨nh⟩, the source of the same Portuguese digraph called ene-agá (lit.'en-aitch'), used thereafter by languages whose writing systems are influenced by Portuguese orthography, such as Vietnamese. In Catalan, Hungarian, Aragonese and many African languages, as Swahili or Dinka, the digraph ⟨ny⟩ is used. In Albanian and Serbo-Croatian, the digraph (Nj) is used, and sometimes, for the languages with the Cyrillic script that used to be part of Yugoslavia, uses the (Њњ) Cyrillic ligature that might be part of the official alphabet. In Czech and Slovak, /ɲ/ is represented by letter ⟨ň⟩ whilst Kashubian and Polish use ⟨ń⟩. Latvian and Livonian use ⟨ņ⟩. In Bengali it is represented by the letter ⟨ঞ⟩.

What is transcribed ⟨ɲ⟩ is often actually a voiced alveolo-palatal nasal. There is no dedicated symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound, which is one reason that ⟨ɲ⟩ is used. If more precision is desired, it may be transcribed ⟨n̠ʲ⟩. There is a non-IPA letter, U+0235 ȵ LATIN SMALL LETTER N WITH CURL; ȵ (⟨n⟩, plus the curl found in the symbols for alveolo-palatal sibilant fricatives ɕ, ʑ), which is used especially in Sinological circles.

An alveolo-palatal nasal is commonly described as palatal; it is often unclear whether a language has a true palatal or not. Many languages claimed to have a palatal nasal, such as Portuguese, actually have an alveolo-palatal nasal.[dubious – discuss] This is likely true of several of the languages listed here. Some dialects of Irish as well as some non-standard dialects of Malayalam are reported to contrast alveolo-palatal and palatal nasals.

Palatal nasals are more common than the palatal stops [c, ɟ].

Features

Features of a voiced palatal nasal:

  • Its manner of articulation is occlusive, which means it is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract. Because the consonant is also nasal, the blocked airflow is redirected through the nose.
  • Its place of articulation is palatal, which means it is articulated with the middle or back part of the tongue raised to the hard palate.
  • Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
  • It is a nasal consonant, which means air is exclusively allowed to escape through the nose for nasal stops; otherwise, in addition to through the mouth.
  • It is a median consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream down the midline of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
  • Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air only with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

Occurrence

Palatal or alveolo-palatal

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Albanian një [ɲə] 'one'
Amharic ዘጠኝ / zäṭäňň [zɛtʼɛɲ] 'nine'
Aragonese chunyo [ˈt͡ʃu.ɲo] 'June'
Asturian cabaña [kaˈβaɲa] 'hut' See Asturian phonology
Basque andereño [än̪d̪e̞ɾe̞ɲo̞] 'female teacher'
Bengali মিঞা / miña [miɲɑ] 'mister'
Bulgarian синьо [siˈɲo] 'blue' Only occurs before ь, ю, and я. See Bulgarian phonology
Burmese ညာ / nya [ɲà] 'right(-hand side)' Contrasts with the voiceless palatal nasal /ɲ̥/.
Catalan any [ˈaɲ̟] 'year' Alveolo-palatal or palatal. See Catalan phonology
Cantonese Wuzhou dialect / njat6 [ɲ̟ɐt̚˨˩] 'day' Alveolo-palatal. In standard Cantonese, /j/ is used instead. The romanization uses extended Jyutping).
Czech ň [kuːɲ] 'horse' May be intermediate between palatal and alveolo-palatal. See Czech phonology
Dinka nyɔt [ɲɔt] 'very'
Dutch oranje [oˈrɑɲə] 'orange' Not all dialects. See Dutch phonology
English Malay dialect canyon [kɛɲən] 'canyon' Common in Malay, allophone of /nj/.
French oignon 'onion' See French phonology
Galician viño [ˈbiɲo] 'wine' See Galician phonology
Greek πρωτοχρονιά / prōtochroniá [pro̞to̞xro̞ˈɲ̟ɐ] 'New Year's Day' Alveolo-palatal. See Modern Greek phonology
Haketia [ru.ħa.ˈɲi] 'spiritual' In free variation with [n] when immediately before [i].
Hindustani Hindi पञ्छी / पंछी / pañchī [pəɲ.t͡ʃʰiː] 'bird' Usually written in Urdu with [n], and usually with anusvara in Hindi, written here with the dead consonant to demonstrate proper spelling. See Hindustani phonology
Urdu پنچھی / pañchī
Hmong White Hmong 𖬖𖬲𖬮𖬵 / nyab [ɲa˦] 'daughter-in-law'
Hungarian anya [ˈɒɲɒ] 'mother' Alveolo-palatal with alveolar contact. See Hungarian phonology
Italian Standard bagno [ˈbäɲːo] 'bath' Postalveolo-prepalatal. See Italian phonology
Romanesco dialect niente [ˈɲːɛn̪t̪e] 'nothing'
Irish inné [əˈn̠ʲeː] 'yesterday' Irish contrasts alveolo-palatal /n̠ʲ/, palatal/palatovelar /ɲ/, velar /ŋ/ and, in some dialects, palatalized alveolar /nʲ/. See Irish phonology
Japanese / niwa 'garden' Alveolar or dento-alveolar. See Japanese phonology
Khasi bse [bsɛɲ] 'snake'
Khmer ពេញ / nh [pɨɲ] 'full' See Khmer phonology
Korean 저녁 / jeonyeok [t͡ɕʌɲ̟ʌk̚] 'evening' Alveolo-palatal. See Korean phonology
Kurdish Southern یانزه / yanze [jäːɲzˠa] 'eleven' See Kurdish phonology
Latvian mākoņains [maːkuɔɲains] 'cloudy' See Latvian phonology
Macedonian чешање / češanje [ˈt͡ʃɛʃaɲɛ] 'itching' See Macedonian phonology
Malagasy [example needed] Palatal.
Malay banyak / باڽـق [bäɲäʔ] 'a lot' Does not occur as a syllable-final coda. Allophone of /n/ before /t͡ʃ/ and /d͡ʒ/ so /punt͡ʃak/ 'peak' is read as [puɲt͡ʃäʔ], not *[punt͡ʃäʔ]. See Malay phonology
Malayalam ഞാ / ڿٰانْ / ñān [ɲäːn] 'I'
Mandarin Sichuanese 女人 / ȵü3 ren2 [nʲy˨˩˦ zən˧˥] 'women' Alveolo-palatal
Mapudungun ñachi [ɲɜˈt͡ʃɪ] 'spiced blood'
North Frisian Mooring fliinj [ˈfliːɲ] 'to fly'
Norwegian Northern mann [mɑɲː] 'man' See Norwegian phonology
Southern
Occitan Northern Polonha [puˈluɲo̞] 'Poland' Simultaneous alveolo-palatal and dento-alveolar or dento-alveolo-palatal. See Occitan phonology
Southern
Gascon banh [baɲ] 'bath'
Polish koń 'horse' Alveolo-palatal. May be replaced by a nasal palatal approximant in coda position or before fricatives. See Polish phonology
Portuguese Many dialects nia [ˈsõ̞n̠ʲɐ] 'Sonia' Possible realization of post-stressed /ni/ plus vowel.
Brazilian sonhar [sõ̞ˈɲaɾ] 'to dream' Central palatal, not the same that /ʎ/ which is pre-palatal. May instead be approximant in Brazil and Africa. May be pronounced [soj̃'ŋ̚ja(ɹ)]. See Portuguese phonology
European arranhar 'to scratch'
Quechua ñuqa [ˈɲɔqɑ] 'I'
Romanian Transylvanian dialects câine [ˈkɨɲe̞] 'dog' Alveolo-palatal. corresponds to [n] in standard Romanian. See Romanian phonology
Sanskrit ज्ञ / yajña [ˈjɐd͡ʑ.ɲɐ] 'sacrifice' See Sanskrit phonology
Scottish Gaelic seinn [ʃein̪ʲ] 'sing' Dento-alveolo-palatal. See Scottish Gaelic phonology
Serbo-Croatian њој / njoj / [ɲ̟ȏ̞j] 'to her' Alveolo-palatal. See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Sinhala ස්පාඤ්ඤ / spāññaya [spaːɲɲəjə] 'Spain'
Slovak pečeň [ˈpɛ̝t͡ʂɛ̝ɲ̟] 'liver' Alveolar. See Slovak phonology
Slovene Some speakers, archaic konj [ˈkɔ̂nʲ] 'horse' See Slovene phonology
Spanish español [e̞späˈɲol] 'Spanish' Simultaneous alveolo-palatal and dento-alveolar or dento-alveolo-palatal. See Spanish phonology
Swahili nyama / نْيَامَ [ɲɑmɑ] 'meat'
Tamil ஞாயிறு / نَايِرُ / ñāyiru [ɲaːjiru] 'Sunday' Alveolo-palatal. See Tamil phonology
Toki Pona Some speakers linja [ˈliɲ.(j)a] 'line'
Tyap nyam [ɲam] 'animal'
Ukrainian тінь / tin' [t̪ʲin̠ʲ] 'shadow' Alveolo-palatal. See Ukrainian phonology
West Frisian njonken [ˈɲoŋkən] 'next to' Phonemically /nj/. See West Frisian phonology
Vietnamese Hanoi nhanh / 𨗜 [ȵajŋ̟˧] 'agile, to run fast, vivacious' "Laminoalveolar". See Vietnamese phonology
Ha Tinh nhanh / 𨗜 [ɲɛɲ˧˥˧]
Wolof ñaan / ݧَانْ
Wu Shanghainese 女人 / nyú nyǐnh [n̠ʲy˩˧ n̠ʲɪɲ˥˨] 'women' Alveolo-palatal.
Changzhounese / nyi [ȵi] 'you' Alveolo-palatal.
Yi / nyi [n̠ʲi˧] 'sit' Alveolo-palatal.
Zulu inyoni [iɲ̟óːni] 'bird' Alveolo-palatal.

Post-palatal

Voiced post-palatal nasal
ɲ᫢
ŋ᫈

There is also a post-palatal nasal (also called pre-velar, fronted velar etc.) in some languages.

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
German Standard ngig [ˈɡ̟ɛŋ̟ɪç] 'common' Allophone of /ŋ/ before and after front vowels; the example also illustrates [ɡ̟]. See Standard German phonology
Lithuanian men [ˈmʲæŋ̟k̟eː] 'cod' Allophone of /n/ before palatalized velars; typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ŋʲ⟩. See Lithuanian phonology
Mapudungun dañe [ˈθɐɲe̞] 'nest'
Polish węgiel [ˈvɛŋ̟ɡ̟ʲɛl] 'coal' Allophone of /n/ before /kʲ, ɡʲ/. See Polish phonology
Romanian anchetă [äŋ̟ˈk̟e̞t̪ə] 'inquiry' Allophone of /n/ used before the palatalized allophones of /k, ɡ/. Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ŋʲ⟩. See Romanian phonology
Turkish renk [ˈɾeɲc] 'color' Allophone of /n/ before [c] and [ɟ]. See Turkish phonology
Uzbek ming [miŋ̟] 'thousand' Word-final allophone of /ŋ/ after front vowels.
Vietnamese Hanoi nhanh / 𨗜 [ɲ̟ajŋ̟˧˧] 'agile, to run fast, vivacious' Final allophone of /ɲ/. See Vietnamese phonology
Yanyuwa lhuwanyngu [l̪uwaŋ̟u] 'strip of turtle fat' Post-palatal; contrasts with post-velar [ŋ̠].

See also

  • Nasal palatal approximant
  • Index of phonetics articles
  • Ɲ (upper and lower case letter used in some orthographies)

Notes

  1. Ladefoged (2005), p. xviii.
  2. Heselwood (2013), p. 113.
  3. Michaud, Alexis (2010-01-01). ""The origin of the peculiarities of the Vietnamese alphabet": translation of an article by André-Georges Haudricourt". Mon-Khmer Studies. Archived from the original on 2021-08-14. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
  4. Ní Chasaide (1999).
  5. Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), p. 33.
  6. Ladefoged (2005), p. 163.
  7. Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), p. 111.
  8. Carbonell & Llisterri (1992), p. 53.
  9. Recasens (2013), p. 11.
  10. Gussenhoven (1992), p. 46.
  11. Regueira (1996), p. 119.
  12. Arvaniti (2007), p. 20.
  13. Cunha (2009), pp. 42, 43.
  14. Ladefoged (2005), p. 164.
  15. Recasens et al. (1993), p. 222.
  16. Quiggin (1906).
  17. de Bhaldraithe (1966).
  18. Mhac an Fhailigh (1968).
  19. Okada (1999), p. 118.
  20. Ladefoged (2005), p. 165.
  21. Sadowsky et al. (2013), p. 88.
  22. Skjekkeland (1997), pp. 105–107.
  23. Jassem (2003), pp. 103–104.
  24. Considerações sobre o status das palato-alveolares em português Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine, p. 12.
  25. Aragão (2009), p. 168.
  26. Cagliari 1974, p. 77. Citation:Em português, o [ɲ] se aproxima mais do [ŋ] do que do [n]; por isso será classificado como "central" e não como pré-palatal. O [ʎ] em muitas línguas se realiza como "central"; em português, [ʎ] tende a [lj] e se realiza sempre na região prepalatal.
  27. "Portuguese vinho: diachronic evidence for biphonemic nasal vowels" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2014-04-13. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
  28. Mattos e Silva (1991), p. 73.
  29. Cruz-Ferreira (1995), p. 91.
  30. Pop (1938), p. 30.
  31. Oftedal (1956), p. 122.
  32. Landau et al. (1999), p. 67.
  33. Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003), p. 255.
  34. Keane, Elinor (2004). "Tamil". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 34 (1): 111–116. doi:10.1017/S0025100304001549.
  35. Thompson (1959), pp. 460.
  36. Krech et al. (2009), pp. 49, 97.
  37. Ambrazas et al. (1997), p. 36.
  38. Gussmann (1974), pp. 107, 111, 114.
  39. Ostaszewska & Tambor (2000), pp. 35, 41, 86.
  40. Sarlin (2014), p. 17.
  41. Sjoberg (1963), p. 12.
  42. Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), pp. 34–35.

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