Voiced palatal nasal

The 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⟩,[1] a lowercase letter n with a leftward-pointing tail protruding from the bottom of the left stem of the letter. The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is J. The IPA symbol ⟨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
IPA Number	118
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	ɲ
Unicode (hex)	U+0272
X-SAMPA	J
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Image
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Voiced alveolo-palatal nasal
n̠ʲ
ɲ̟

The IPA symbol derives from ⟨n⟩ and ⟨j⟩, ⟨n⟩ for nasality and ⟨j⟩ denoting palatal.[2] In French and Italian orthographies the sound is represented by the digraph ⟨gn⟩. In Spanish and languages whose writing systems are influenced by Spanish orthography, it is represented by the letter ⟨ñ⟩, called eñe ("enye"). Occitan uses the digraph ⟨nh⟩, the source of the same Portuguese digraph called ene-agá, used thereafter by languages whose writing systems are influenced by Portuguese orthography, such as Vietnamese. In Catalan, Hungarian and many African languages, as Swahili or Dinka, the digraph ⟨ny⟩ is used.

The voiced alveolo-palatal nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some oral languages. There is no dedicated symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound. If more precision is desired, it may be transcribed ⟨n̠ʲ⟩ or ⟨ɲ̟⟩; these are essentially equivalent, since the contact includes both the blade and body (but not the tip) of the tongue. There is a non-IPA letter ⟨ȵ⟩ (⟨n⟩, plus the curl found in the symbols for alveolo-palatal sibilant fricatives ⟨ɕ, ʑ⟩), used especially in Sinological circles.

The 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. 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.[3][4]

There is also a post-palatal nasal (also called pre-velar, fronted velar etc.) in some languages. Palatal nasals are more common than the palatal stops [c, ɟ].[5]

Features

Features of the 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 allowed to escape through the nose, either exclusively (nasal stops) or in addition to through the mouth.

• It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.

• The airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

Occurrence

Palatal or alveolo-palatal

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
!Kung[6]			—	—	Represented by ⟨ny⟩
Albanian		një	[ɲə]	'one'
Aranda			—	—	Alveolo-palatal and dento-alveolo-palatal.[7]
Basque		andereño	[än̪d̪e̞ɾe̞ɲo̞]	'female teacher'
Bengali[8]		অঞ্চল	[ɔɲtʃɔl]	'area'
Burmese[8]		ညာ	[ɲà]	'right(-hand side)'	Contrasts with the voiceless palatal nasal /ɲ̥/.
Catalan[9]		any	[ˈaɲ̟]	'year'	Alveolo-palatal or palatal.[7] See Catalan phonology
Chinese	Mandarin	女人 / nǚ rén	[ȵy˩ ɻən˨˧]	'woman'	Alveolo-palatal
	Sichuanese		[ȵy˥˧ zən˨˩]
	Wu / Shanghai dialect	女人 / gniugnin	[ȵy˩˧ȵiŋ˥˨]
Czech		kůň	[kuːɲ]	'horse'	May be intermediate between palatal and alveolo-palatal.[4] See Czech phonology
Dinka		nyɔt	[ɲɔt]	'very'
Dutch[10]		oranje	[oˈrɑɲə]	'orange'	Not all dialects. See Dutch phonology
French		hargneux	[arɲø]	'belligerent'	See French phonology
Galician[11]		viño	[ˈbiɲo]	'wine'	See Galician phonology
Greek		πρωτοχρονιά / prōtochroniá	[pro̞to̞xro̞ˈɲ̟ɐ]	'New Year's Day'	Alveolo-palatal.[12] See Modern Greek phonology
Hungarian[13]		anya	[ˈɒɲɒ]	'mother'	Alveolo-palatal with alveolar contact.[7] See Hungarian phonology
Italian	Standard	bagno	[ˈbäɲːo]	'bath'	Postalveolo-prepalatal.[14] See Italian phonology
	Romanesco dialect	niente	[ˈɲːɛn̪t̪e]	'nothing'
Irish[3]		inné	[əˈn̠ʲeː]	'yesterday'	Irish contrasts alveolo-palatal /n̠ʲ/, palatal/palatovelar /ɲ/, velar /ŋ/ and, in some dialects, palatalized alveolar /nʲ/.[15][16][17][3] See Irish phonology
Japanese[18]		庭 / niwa	[ɲ̟iɰᵝa̠]	'garden'	Alveolar or dento-alveolar.[7] See Japanese phonology
Khasi		bseiñ	[bsɛɲ]	'snake'
Korean		저녁 / jeonyeok	[t͡ɕʌɲʌk̚]	'evening'	Alveolo-palatal. See Korean phonology
Kurdish	Southern	یانزه	[jäːɲzˠa]	'eleven'	See Kurdish phonology
Latvian		mākoņains	[maːkuɔɲains]	'cloudy'	See Latvian phonology
Macedonian		чешање	[ˈt͡ʃɛʃaɲɛ]	'itching'	See Macedonian phonology
Malagasy[7]			—	—	Palatal.
Malay		banyak	[bäɲäʔˈ]	'a lot'	Does not occur at the end of a word.
Malayalam[19]		ഞാൻ	[ɲäːn]	'I'
Mapudungun[20]		ñachi	[ɲɜˈt͡ʃɪ]	'spiced blood'
North Frisian	Mooring	fliinj	[ˈfliːɲ]	'to fly'
Norwegian	Northern[21]	mann	[mɑɲː]	'man'	See Norwegian phonology
	Southern[21]
Occitan	Northern	Polonha	[puˈluɲo̞]	'Poland'	Simultaneous alveolo-palatal and dento-alveolar or dento-alveolo-palatal.[7] See Occitan phonology
	Southern
	Gascon	banh	[baɲ]	'bath'
Polish[22]		koń	[kɔɲ̟]	'horse'	Alveolo-palatal. May be replaced by a nasal palatal approximant in coda position or before fricatives. See Polish phonology
Portuguese	Many dialects[23]	Sônia	[ˈsõ̞n̠ʲɐ]	'Sonia'	Possible realization of post-stressed /ni/ plus vowel.
	European[24]	arranhar	[ɐʁɐ̃ˈn̠ʲaɾ]	'to scratch'	Dento-alveolo-palatal.[7]
Quechua		ñuqa	[ˈɲɔqɑ]	'I'
Romanian	Transylvanian dialects[25]	câine	[ˈkɨɲe̞]	'dog'	Alveolo-palatal.[25] corresponds to [n] in standard Romanian. See Romanian phonology
Scottish Gaelic[26]		seinn	[ʃeiɲ̟]	'sing'	Alveolo-palatal. See Scottish Gaelic phonology
Serbo-Croatian[27]		њој / njoj	[ɲ̟ȏ̞j]	'to her'	Alveolo-palatal. See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Slovak		pečeň	[ˈpɛ̝t͡ʃɛ̝ɲ̟]	'liver'	Alveolar.[7] See Slovak phonology
Spanish[28]		español	[e̞späˈɲol]	'Spanish'	Simultaneous alveolo-palatal and dento-alveolar or dento-alveolo-palatal.[7] See Spanish phonology
Swahili		nyama	[ɲɑmɑ]	'meat'
Tamil		ஞாயிறு	[ɲaːjiru]	'Sunday'	Alveolo-palatal.[29] See Tamil phonology
Tyap		nyam	[ɲam]	'animal'
Ukrainian		тінь	[t̪ʲin̠ʲ]	'shadow'	Alveolo-palatal. See Ukrainian phonology
Vietnamese		nhà	[ɲâː]	'house'	"Laminoalveolar".[30] See Vietnamese phonology
West Frisian		njonken	[ˈɲoŋkən]	'next to'	Phonemically /nj/. See West Frisian phonology
Yi		ꑌ / nyi	[n̠ʲi˧]	'sit'	Alveolo-palatal.
Zulu		inyoni	[iɲ̟óːni]	'bird'	Alveolo-palatal.[7]

Post-palatal

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
German	Standard[31]	gängig	[ˈɡ̟ɛŋ̟ɪç]	'common'	Allophone of /ŋ/ before and after front vowels;[31] the example also illustrates [ɡ̟]. See Standard German phonology
Lithuanian[32]		menkė	[ˈmʲæŋ̟k̟eː]	'cod'	Allophone of /n/ before palatalized velars;[32] typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ŋʲ⟩. See Lithuanian phonology
Mapudungun[20]		dañe	[ˈθɐɲe̞]	'nest'
Polish[33][34]		węgiel	[ˈvɛŋ̟ɡ̟ɛl]	'coal'	Allophone of /n/ before /kʲ, ɡʲ/.[33][34] See Polish phonology
Romanian[35]		anchetă	[äŋ̟ˈk̟e̞t̪ə]	'inquiry'	Allophone of /n/ used before the palatalized allophones of /k, ɡ/.[35] Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ŋʲ⟩. See Romanian phonology
Turkish		renk	[ˈɾeɲc]	'color'	Allophone of /n/ before /c/ and /ɟ/. See Turkish phonology
Uzbek[36]		ming	[miŋ̟]	'thousand'	Word-final allophone of /ŋ/ after front vowels.[36]
Vietnamese		nhạc	[ɲa̰ːʔk˨˩]	'music"	Final allophone of /ɲ/. See Vietnamese phonology
Yanyuwa[37]		[l̪uwaŋ̟u]		'strip of turtle fat'	Post-palatal; contrasts with post-velar [ŋ̠].[37]

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. Ní Chasaide (1999).
4. Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), p. 33.
5. Ladefoged (2005), p. 163.
6. Doke (1925), p. ?.
7. Recasens (2013), p. 11.
8. Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), p. 111.
9. Carbonell & Llisterri (1992), p. 53.
10. Gussenhoven (1992), p. 46.
11. Mattos e Silva (1991), p. 73.
12. Arvaniti (2007), p. 20.
13. Ladefoged (2005), p. 164.
14. Recasens et al. (1993), p. 222.
15. Quiggin (1906).
16. de Bhaldraithe (1966).
17. Mhac an Fhailigh (1968).
18. Okada (1999), p. 118.
19. Ladefoged (2005), p. 165.
20. Sadowsky et al. (2013), p. 88.
21. Skjekkeland (1997), pp. 105–107.
22. Jassem (2003), pp. 103–104.
23. Considerações sobre o status das palato-alveolares em português Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine, p. 12.
24. Cruz-Ferreira (1995), p. 91.
25. Pop (1938), p. 30.
26. Oftedal (1956), p. ?.
27. Landau et al. (1999), p. 67. sfnp error: no target: CITEREFLandauLončarićaHorgaŠkarić1999 (help)
28. Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003), p. 255.
29. Keane, Elinor (2004). "Tamil". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 34 (1): 111–116. doi:10.1017/S0025100304001549.
30. Thompson (1959), pp. 460.
31. Krech et al. (2009), pp. 49, 97.
32. Ambrazas et al. (1997), p. 36.
33. Gussmann (1974), pp. 107, 111, 114.
34. Ostaszewska & Tambor (2000), pp. 35, 41, 86.
35. Sarlin (2014), p. 17.
36. Sjoberg (1963), p. 12.
37. Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), pp. 34–35.

References

• Ambrazas, Vytautas; Geniušienė, Emma; Girdenis, Aleksas; Sližienė, Nijolė; Valeckienė, Adelė; Valiulytė, Elena; Tekorienė, Dalija; Pažūsis, Lionginas (1997), Ambrazas, Vytautas (ed.), Lithuanian Grammar, Vilnius: Institute of the Lithuanian Language, ISBN 978-9986-813-22-4
• Aragão, Maria do Socorro Silva de (2009), Os estudos fonético-fonológicos nos estados da Paraíba e do Ceará [The phonetic-phonological studies in Paraíba and Ceará states] (PDF) (in Portuguese)
• Arvaniti, Amalia (2007), "Greek Phonetics: The State of the Art" (PDF), Journal of Greek Linguistics, 8: 97–208, CiteSeerX 10.1.1.692.1365, doi:10.1075/jgl.8.08arv, archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-11
• Cagliari, Luiz Carlos (1974), A palatalização em portugues : uma investigação palatografica
• Carbonell, Joan F.; Llisterri, Joaquim (1992), "Catalan", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 22 (1–2): 53–56, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004618
• Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena (1995), "European Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 25 (2): 90–94, doi:10.1017/S0025100300005223
• Doke, Clement M. (1925), "An outline of the phonetics of the language of the ʗhũ: Bushman of the North-West Kalahari", Bantu Studies, 2: 129–166, doi:10.1080/02561751.1923.9676181
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1966), The Irish of Cois Fhairrge, Co. Galway (2nd ed.), Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, ISBN 978-0-901282-51-4
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• Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996), The Sounds of the World's Languages, Oxford: Blackwell, ISBN 978-0-631-19815-4
• Martínez-Celdrán, Eugenio; Fernández-Planas, Ana Ma.; Carrera-Sabaté, Josefina (2003), "Castilian Spanish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 33 (2): 255–259, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001373
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• Pop, Sever (1938), Micul Atlas Linguistic Român, Muzeul Limbii Române Cluj
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External links

• List of languages with [ɲ] on PHOIBLE