| Voiced palatal nasal | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ɲ | |||
| IPA number | 118 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity(decimal) | ɲ | ||
| Unicode(hex) | U+0272 | ||
| X-SAMPA | J | ||
| Braille |  | ||
| |||
| Voiced alveolo-palatal nasal | |
|---|---|
| n̠ʲ | |
| ɲ̟ | |
| ȵ |
Thevoiced palatal nasal is a type ofconsonant used in somespokenlanguages. The symbol in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɲ⟩,[1] a lowercase lettern with a leftward-pointing tail protruding from the bottom of the left stem of the letter. The equivalentX-SAMPA symbol isJ. The IPA symbol ⟨ɲ⟩ is visually similar to ⟨ɳ ⟩, the symbol for theretroflex nasal, which has a rightward-pointing hook extending from the bottom of the right stem, and to ⟨ŋ⟩, the symbol for thevelar nasal, which has a leftward-pointing hook extending from the bottom of the right stem.
The IPA symbol derives from ⟨n⟩ and ⟨j⟩, ⟨n⟩ for nasality and ⟨j⟩ denoting palatalization.[2] InSpanish and languages whose writing systems are influenced bySpanish orthography, it is represented by the letter⟨ñ⟩, calledeñe ([ˈeɲe]). InFrench andItalian orthographies the sound is represented by thedigraph⟨gn⟩.Occitan uses the digraph⟨nh⟩, the source of the samePortuguese digraph calledene-agá (lit. 'en-aitch'), used thereafter by languages whose writing systems are influenced byPortuguese orthography, such asVietnamese.[3][4] InCatalan,Hungarian,Aragonese and many African languages, asSwahili orDinka, the digraph⟨ny⟩ is used. In Albanian and some countries that used to be Yugoslavia, 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⟩. InBengali it is represented by the letter⟨ঞ⟩.
Thevoiced alveolo-palatal nasal is a type ofconsonantal sound, used in someoral languages. There is no dedicated symbol in theInternational 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,U+0235 ȵLATIN 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.
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 asPortuguese, actually have an alveolo-palatal nasal. This is likely true of several of the languages listed here. Some dialects ofIrish as well as some non-standard dialects ofMalayalam are reported to contrast alveolo-palatal and palatal nasals.[5][6]
There is also apost-palatal nasal (also calledpre-velar,fronted velar etc.) in some languages. Palatal nasals are more common than the palatal stops[c,ɟ].[7]
Features of the voiced palatal nasal:
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| !Kung[8] | [example needed] | — | — | Represented by⟨ny⟩ | |
| Albanian | një | [ɲə] | 'one' | ||
| Amharic | ዘጠኝ /zäṭäňň | [zɛtʼɛɲ] | 'nine' | ||
| Aragonese | chunyo | [ˈt͡ʃu.ɲo] | 'June' | ||
| Aranda | [example needed] | — | — | Alveolo-palatal and dento-alveolo-palatal.[9] | |
| Asturian | cabaña | [kaˈβaɲa] | 'hut' | SeeAsturian phonology | |
| Basque | andereño | [än̪d̪e̞ɾe̞ɲo̞] | 'female teacher' | ||
| Bengali[10] | মিঞা /miña | [miɲɑ] | 'mister' | ||
| Bulgarian | синьо | [siˈɲo] | 'blue' | Only occurs before ь, ю, and я. SeeBulgarian phonology | |
| Burmese[10] | ညာ /nya | [ɲà] | 'right(-hand side)' | Contrasts with thevoiceless palatal nasal/ɲ̥/. | |
| Catalan[11] | any | [ˈaɲ̟] | 'year' | Alveolo-palatal or palatal.[9] SeeCatalan phonology | |
| Czech | kůň | [kuːɲ] | 'horse' | May be intermediate between palatal and alveolo-palatal.[6] SeeCzech phonology | |
| Dinka | nyɔt | [ɲɔt] | 'very' | ||
| Dutch[12] | oranje | [oˈrɑɲə] | 'orange' | Not all dialects. SeeDutch phonology | |
| English | Malay dialect | canyon | [kɛɲən] | 'canyon' | Common inMalay, allophone of /nj/. |
| French | oignon | [ɔ.ɲɔ̃]ⓘ | 'onion' | SeeFrench phonology | |
| Galician[13] | viño | [ˈbiɲo] | 'wine' | SeeGalician phonology | |
| Greek | πρωτοχρονιά /prōtochroniá | [pro̞to̞xro̞ˈɲ̟ɐ] | 'New Year's Day' | Alveolo-palatal.[14] SeeModern Greek phonology | |
| Haketia[15] | [ru.ħa.ˈɲi] | 'spiritual' | Infree variation with[n] when immediately before[i].[15] | ||
| Hindustani | Hindi | पञ्छी/पंछी/pañchī | [pəɲ.t͡ʃʰiː] | 'bird' | Usually written in Urdu with[n], and usually with anuswar in Devanagari, written here with the dead consonant to demonstrate proper spelling. SeeHindustani phonology |
| Urdu | پنچھی /pañchī | ||||
| Hungarian[16] | anya | [ˈɒɲɒ] | 'mother' | Alveolo-palatal with alveolar contact.[9] SeeHungarian phonology | |
| Italian | Standard | bagno | [ˈbäɲːo] | 'bath' | Postalveolo-prepalatal.[17] SeeItalian phonology |
| Romanesco dialect | niente | [ˈɲːɛn̪t̪e] | 'nothing' | ||
| Irish[5] | inné | [əˈn̠ʲeː] | 'yesterday' | Irish contrasts alveolo-palatal/n̠ʲ/, palatal/palatovelar/ɲ/, velar/ŋ/ and, in some dialects, palatalized alveolar/nʲ/.[18][19][20][5] SeeIrish phonology | |
| Japanese[21] | 庭 /niwa | [ɲ̟iɰᵝa̠] | 'garden' | Alveolar or dento-alveolar.[9] SeeJapanese phonology | |
| Khasi | bseiñ | [bsɛɲ] | 'snake' | ||
| Khmer | ពេញ /pénh | [pɨɲ] | 'full' | SeeKhmer phonology | |
| Korean | 저녁 /jeonyeok | [t͡ɕʌɲ̟ʌk̚] | 'evening' | Alveolo-palatal. SeeKorean phonology | |
| Kurdish | Southern | یانزه /yanze | [jäːɲzˠa] | 'eleven' | SeeKurdish phonology |
| Latvian | mākoņains | [maːkuɔɲains] | 'cloudy' | SeeLatvian phonology | |
| Macedonian | чешање /češanje | [ˈt͡ʃɛʃaɲɛ] | 'itching' | SeeMacedonian phonology | |
| Malagasy[9] | [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]. SeeMalay phonology | |
| Malayalam[22] | ഞാൻ /ڿٰانْ /ñān | [ɲäːn] | 'I' | ||
| Mandarin | Sichuanese | 女人 /ȵü3 ren2 | [nʲy˨˩˦zən˧˥] | ‘women’ | Alveolo-palatal |
| Mapudungun[23] | ñachi | [ɲɜˈt͡ʃɪ] | 'spiced blood' | ||
| North Frisian | Mooring | fliinj | [ˈfliːɲ] | 'to fly' | |
| Norwegian | Northern[24] | mann | [mɑɲː] | 'man' | SeeNorwegian phonology |
| Southern[24] | |||||
| Occitan | Northern | Polonha | [puˈluɲo̞] | 'Poland' | Simultaneous alveolo-palatal and dento-alveolar or dento-alveolo-palatal.[9] SeeOccitan phonology |
| Southern | |||||
| Gascon | banh | [baɲ] | 'bath' | ||
| Polish[25] | koń | [kɔɲ̟]ⓘ | 'horse' | Alveolo-palatal. May be replaced by anasal palatal approximant in coda position or before fricatives. SeePolish phonology | |
| Portuguese | Many dialects[26] | Sônia | [ˈsõ̞n̠ʲɐ] | 'Sonia' | Possible realization of post-stressed/ni/ plus vowel. |
| Brazilian[26][27] | sonhar | [sõ̞ˈɲaɾ] | 'to dream' | Central palatal, not the same that/ʎ/ which is pre-palatal.[28] May instead beapproximant[29][30] in Brazil andAfrica. May be pronounced [soj̃'ŋ̚ja(ɹ)]. SeePortuguese phonology | |
| European[31] | arranhar | [ɐʁɐ̃ˈn̠ʲaɾ]ⓘ | 'to scratch' | Dento-alveolo-palatal.[9] | |
| Quechua | ñuqa | [ˈɲɔqɑ] | 'I' | ||
| Romanian | Transylvanian dialects[32] | câine | [ˈkɨɲe̞] | 'dog' | Alveolo-palatal.[32] corresponds to[n] in standard Romanian. SeeRomanian phonology |
| Sanskrit | यज्ञ /yajña | [ˈjɐd͡ʑ.ɲɐ] | 'Sacrifice' | SeeSanskrit phonology | |
| Scottish Gaelic[33] | seinn | [ʃein̪ʲ] | 'sing' | Dento-alveolo-palatal. SeeScottish Gaelic phonology | |
| Serbo-Croatian[34] | њој /njoj / | [ɲ̟ȏ̞j] | 'to her' | Alveolo-palatal. SeeSerbo-Croatian phonology | |
| Sinhala | ස්පාඤ්ඤය /spāññaya | [spaːɲɲəjə] | 'Spain' | ||
| Slovak | pečeň | [ˈpɛ̝t͡ʂɛ̝ɲ̟] | 'liver' | Alveolar.[9] SeeSlovak phonology | |
| Slovene | Some speakers, archaic | konj | [ˈkɔ̂nʲ] | 'horse' | SeeSlovene phonology |
| Spanish[35] | español | [e̞späˈɲol] | 'Spanish' | Simultaneous alveolo-palatal and dento-alveolar or dento-alveolo-palatal.[9] SeeSpanish phonology | |
| Swahili | nyama /نْيَامَ | [ɲɑmɑ] | 'meat' | ||
| Tamil | ஞாயிறு /نَايِرُ /ñāyiru | [ɲaːjiru] | 'Sunday' | Alveolo-palatal.[36] SeeTamil phonology | |
| Toki Pona | Some speakers | linja | [ˈliɲ.(j)a] | 'line' | |
| Tyap | nyam | [ɲam] | 'animal' | ||
| Ukrainian | тінь /tin' | [t̪ʲin̠ʲ] | 'shadow' | Alveolo-palatal. SeeUkrainian phonology | |
| West Frisian | njonken | [ˈɲoŋkən] | 'next to' | Phonemically/nj/. SeeWest Frisian phonology | |
| Vietnamese | Hanoi | nhanh /𨗜 | [ȵajŋ̟˧] | 'agile, to run fast, vivacious' | "Laminoalveolar".[37] SeeVietnamese phonology |
| Ha Tinh | nhanh /𨗜 | [ɲɛɲ˧˥˧] | |||
| Wolof | ñaan /ݧَانْ | ||||
| Wu | Shanghainese | 女人 /nyúnyǐnh | [n̠ʲy˩˧n̠ʲɪɲ˥˨] | 'women' | Alveolo-palatal |
| Changzhounese | 你 /nyi | [ȵi] | ’you' | Alveolo-palatal | |
| Yi | ꑌ /nyi | [n̠ʲi˧] | 'sit' | Alveolo-palatal. | |
| Zulu | inyoni | [iɲ̟óːni] | 'bird' | Alveolo-palatal.[9] | |
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| German | Standard[38] | gängig | [ˈɡ̟ɛŋ̟ɪç] | 'common' | Allophone of/ŋ/ before and after front vowels;[38] the example also illustrates[ɡ̟]. SeeStandard German phonology |
| Lithuanian[39] | menkė | [ˈmʲæŋ̟k̟eː] | 'cod' | Allophone of/n/ before palatalized velars;[39] typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ŋʲ⟩. SeeLithuanian phonology | |
| Mapudungun[23] | dañe | [ˈθɐɲe̞] | 'nest' | ||
| Polish[40][41] | węgiel | [ˈvɛŋ̟ɡ̟ʲɛl] | 'coal' | Allophone of/n/ before/kʲ,ɡʲ/.[40][41] SeePolish phonology | |
| Romanian[42] | anchetă | [äŋ̟ˈk̟e̞t̪ə] | 'inquiry' | Allophone of/n/ used before the palatalized allophones of/k,ɡ/.[42] Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ŋʲ⟩. SeeRomanian phonology | |
| Turkish | renk | [ˈɾeɲk] | 'color' | Allophone of/n/ before/k/ and/g/. SeeTurkish phonology | |
| Uzbek[43] | ming | [miŋ̟] | 'thousand' | Word-final allophone of/ŋ/ after front vowels.[43] | |
| Vietnamese | Hanoi | nhanh /𨗜 | [ȵajŋ̟˧˧] | 'agile, to run fast, vivacious' | Final allophone of/ɲ/. SeeVietnamese phonology |
| Yanyuwa[44] | lhuwanyngu | [l̪uwaŋ̟u] | 'strip of turtle fat' | Post-palatal; contrasts with post-velar[ŋ̠].[44] | |
