Dental, alveolar and postalveolar nasals

Alveolar nasal
n
IPA number	116
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	n
Unicode (hex)	U+006E
X-SAMPA	n
Kirshenbaum	n
Braille
Sound
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The 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 ⟨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 [m] (e.g. colloquial Samoan). There are some languages (e.g. Rotokas) that lack both [m] and [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 is what 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, as which part of the tongue makes the contact. In English it is the tip of the tongue (such sounds are termed apical), whereas 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 /θ/ in languages which have it, as in English tenth. Similarly, a denti-alveolar allophone will occur in languages which 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

Features of the alveolar 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.
• There are four specific variants of [n]:
  • 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.

• 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.

• Because the sound is not produced with airflow over the tongue, the central–lateral dichotomy does not apply.

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

Occurrence

Dental or denti-alveolar

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Belarusian[2]		новы	[ˈn̪ovɨ]	'new'	Laminal denti-alveolar. Contrasts with palatalized form. See Belarusian phonology
Bulgarian[3]		жена	[ʒɛˈn̪a]	'woman'	Laminal denti-alveolar.
Catalan[4]		cantar	[kən̪ˈt̪ä(ɾ)]	'to sing'	Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of /n/ before /t, d/.[4] See Catalan phonology
Dutch	Belgian	nicht	[n̻ɪxt̻]	'niece'	Laminal denti-alveolar, sometimes simply alveolar. See Dutch phonology
English		month	[mʌn̪θ]	'month'	Interdental. Allophone of /n/ before /θ, ð/.
French[5]		connexion	[kɔn̻ɛksjɔ̃]	'connection'	Laminal denti-alveolar, sometimes simply alveolar. See French phonology
Greek[6]		άνθος/ánthos	[ˈɐn̪θo̞s]	'flower'	Interdental. Allophone of /n/. See Modern Greek phonology
Hungarian[7]		nagyi	[ˈn̪ɒɟi]	'grandma'	Laminal denti-alveolar. See Hungarian phonology
Italian[8][9]		cantare	[kän̪ˈt̪äːre]	'to sing'	Laminal denti-alveolar.[9] Allophone of /n/ before /t, d, s, z, t͡s, d͡z/.[8][9] See Italian phonology
Kashubian[10]					Laminal denti-alveolar.
Kazakh		көрінді	[kœɾɪn̪d̪ɪ]	'it seemed'	Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of /n/ before /t, d/.
Kyrgyz		беделинде	[be̞d̪e̞lin̪d̪e̞]	'in the authority'	Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of /n/ before /t, d/.
Latvian[11]		nakts	[n̪äkt̪s̪]	'night'	Laminal denti-alveolar. See Latvian phonology
Macedonian[12]		нос	[n̪o̞s̪]	'nose'	Laminal denti-alveolar. See Macedonian phonology
Malayalam[13]		പന്നി	[pən̪n̪i]	'pig'	Interdental for some speakers.
Mapudungun[14]		müṉa	[mɘ̝ˈn̪ɐ̝]	'male cousin on father's side'	Interdental.[14]
Polish[15]		nos	[n̪ɔs̪]	'nose'	Laminal denti-alveolar. Alveolar before /t͡ʂ, d͡ʐ/. See Polish phonology
Portuguese	General[16][17]	nariz	[n̻ɐˈɾiʃ]	'nose'	Laminal denti-alveolar. May nasalize preceding vowel (especially if stressed). Has [ɲ̟] as allophone, forming from clusters with [j], and before /i/.
	Vernacular Brazilian[18][19]	percebendo	[pe̞ʁse̞ˈbẽn̻u]	'perceiving'	Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of /d/ after a stressed nasal vowel in more stigmatized varieties. See Portuguese phonology
Romanian[20]		alună	[äˈlun̪ə]	'hazelnut'	Laminal denti-alveolar. See Romanian phonology
Serbo-Croatian		студент / student	[s̪t̪ǔd̪e̞n̪t̪]	'student'	Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of /n/ before /t, d, s, z, t͡s/. See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Slovene		amarant	[amaˈɾaːn̪t̪]	'amaranth'	Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of /n/ before /t, d, s, z, t͡s/. See Slovene phonology
Spanish	Most dialects	cantar	[kän̪ˈt̪är]	'to sing'	Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of /n/ before /t, d/. See Spanish phonology
Ukrainian[21]		наш	[n̪ɑʃ]	'our'	Laminal denti-alveolar, contrasts with palatalized form. See Ukrainian phonology
Uzbek[22]					Laminal denti-alveolar.

Alveolar

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Adyghe		нэфнэ	[nafna]	'light'
Arabic	Standard	نار	[naːr]	'fire'	See Arabic phonology
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic		nora	[noɾa:]	'mirror'
Basque		ni	[ni]	'I'
Bengali		নাক	[na:k]	'nose'	See Bengali phonology
Catalan[23]		nou	[ˈnɔw]	'new'	See Catalan phonology
Chinese	Mandarin	難/nán	[nan˧˥]	'difficult'	See Mandarin phonology
Czech		na	[na]	'on'	See Czech phonology
Dutch[24]		nacht	[nɑxt]	'night'	See Dutch phonology
English		nice	[naɪs]	'nice'	See English phonology
Finnish		annan	[ˈɑnːɑn]	'I give'	See Finnish phonology
Georgian[25]		კანი	[ˈkʼɑni]	'skin'
Greek		νάμα/náma	[ˈnama]	'communion wine'	See Modern Greek phonology
Gujarati		નહી	[nəhi]	'no'	See Gujarati phonology
Hawaiian[26]		naka	[naka]	'to shake'	See Hawaiian phonology
Hebrew		נבון	[navon]	'wise'	See Modern Hebrew phonology
Hindustani		नया / نیا	[nəjaː]	'new'	See Hindi–Urdu phonology
Italian[27]		nano	[ˈnäːno]	'dwarf'	See Italian phonology
Japanese[28]		反対/hantai	[hantai]	'opposite'	See Japanese phonology
Korean		나/na	[na]	'I'	See Korean phonology
Kyrgyz[29]		банан	[baˈnan]	'banana'
Malay		nasi	[näsi]	'cooked rice'
Malayalam[13]		കന്നി	[kənni]	'virgin'
Maltese		lenbuba	[lenbuˈba]	'truncheon'
Mapudungun[14]		müna	[mɘ̝ˈnɐ̝]	'enough'
Marathi		नख	[nəkʰ]	'fingernail'	See Marathi phonology
Ngwe	Mmockngie dialect	[nøɣə̀]		'sun'
Pirahã		gíxai	[níˈʔàì̯]	'you'
Polish[15]		poncz	[ˈpɔn̥t͡ʂ]	'punch'	Allophone of /n/ (which is normally laminal denti-alveolar [n̪]) before /t͡ʂ, d͡ʐ/. See Polish phonology
Punjabi		ਨੱਕ	[nəkː]	'nose'
Slovak		na	[na]	'on'
Slovene[30]		novice	[nɔˈʋìːt̪͡s̪ɛ]	'news'
Spanish[31]		nada	[ˈnäð̞ä]	'nothing'	See Spanish phonology
Turkish		neden	[ne̞d̪æn]	'reason'	See Turkish phonology
Vietnamese[32]		bạn đi	[ɓan˧ˀ˨ʔ ɗi]	'you're going'	Occurs only before alveolar consonants. See Vietnamese phonology
Welsh		nain	[nain]	'grandmother'	See Welsh phonology
Western Apache		non	[nòn]	'cache'
West Frisian		nekke	[ˈnɛkə]	'neck'
Yi		ꆅ/na	[na˧ ]	'hurt'
Zapotec	Tilquiapan[33]	nanɨɨ	[nanɨˀɨ]	'lady'	contrasts with a fortis alveolar nasal that is not represented in the orthography.

Postalveolar

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Catalan[4]		panxa	['pän̠ɕə][34]	'belly'	Allophone of /n/ before /ʃ, ʒ, t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/, may be alveolo-palatal instead.[4] See Catalan phonology
Czech		manželka	[ˈman̠ʒelka]	'wife'	Allophone of /n/ before postalveolar sibilants. See Czech phonology
Djeebbana[35]		barnmarramarlón̠a	[ban̠maramal̠ɔn̪a]	'they two swam'	Result of rhotic plus alveolar [n].[35]
English	Australian[36]	enrol	[əṉˈɹ̠ɔo̯ɫ]	'enrol'	Allophone of /n/ before /r/.[36] See Australian English phonology
Italian[37]		angelo	[ˈän̠ʲːd͡ʒelo]	'angel'	Palatalized laminal; allophone of /n/ before /ʃ, t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/.[37] See Italian phonology

Variable

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
English	Scottish[38]	nice	[nəis]	'nice'	Laminal denti-alveolar for some speakers, alveolar for other speakers.[38][39]
	Welsh[39]
German	Standard[40]	Lanze	[ˈlant͡sə]	'lance'	Varies between laminal denti-alveolar, laminal alveolar and apical alveolar.[40] See Standard German phonology
Norwegian	Standard Eastern[41]	mann	[mɑn̻ː]	'man'	Varies between laminal denti-alveolar and laminal alveolar.[41] See Norwegian phonology
Swedish	Central Standard[42]	nu	[nʉ̟ː]	'now'	Varies between laminal denti-alveolar and alveolar, with the former being predominant.[42] See Swedish phonology

See also

• Index of phonetics articles
• Voiceless alveolar nasal

References

1. Chadwick, Neil J. (1975). A descriptive study of the Djingili language. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.
2. Padluzhny (1989), pp. 49–50.
3. Klagstad Jr. (1958), p. 46.
4. Rafel (1999), p. 14.
5. Fougeron & Smith (1993), p. 73.
6. Arvaniti (2007), p. 15.
7. Siptár & Törkenczy (2000), pp. 75–76.
8. Bertinetto & Loporcaro (2005), p. 133.
9. Canepari (1992), p. 58.
10. Jerzy Treder. "Fonetyka i fonologia".
11. Nau (1998), p. 6.
12. Lunt (1952), p. 1.
13. Ladefoged (2005), p. 165.
14. Sadowsky et al. (2013), pp. 88–89.
15. Rocławski (1976), p. 136.
16. Cruz-Ferreira (1995), p. 91.
17. Barbosa & Albano (2004), p. 230.
18. (Portuguese) Unesp's digital collection – The deleting of /d/ in the morpheme of the gerund in São José do Rio Preto's accent
19. (Portuguese) The deletting of /d/ in the morpheme of the gerund in São José do Rio Preto's accent – PDF
20. Chițoran (2001), p. 10.
21. Danyenko & Vakulenko (1995), p. 10.
22. Sjoberg (1963), p. 12.
23. Carbonell & Llisterri (1992), p. 53.
24. Gussenhoven (1992), p. 45.
25. Shosted & Chikovani (2006), p. 255.
26. Ladefoged (2005), p. 139.
27. Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004), p. 117.
28. Okada (1991), p. 94.
29. Kara (2003), p. 11.
30. Pretnar & Tokarz (1980), p. 21.
31. Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003), p. 255.
32. Thompson (1959), pp. 458–461.
33. Merrill (2008), p. 108.
34. Valencian pronunciation: ['pän̠t͡ɕä]. Note that what's transcribed /ʃ, ʒ, t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/ in Catalan are actually alveolo-palatal sibilants [ɕ, ʑ, t͡ɕ, d͡ʑ].
35. Dixon (2002), p. 585.
36. Mannell, Cox & Harrington (2009).
37. Canepari (1992), pp. 58–59.
38. Scobbie, Gordeeva & Matthews (2006), p. 4.
39. Wells (1982), p. 388.
40. Mangold (2005), p. 49.
41. Kristoffersen (2000), p. 22.
42. Riad (2014), p. 46.

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