The voiced velar nasal, also known as eng, engma, or agma (from Greek ἆγμαâgma 'fragment'), is a type of consonantal sound used in some spokenlanguages. It is the sound of ng in English sing as well as n before velar consonants as in English and ink. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ŋ⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is N. The IPA symbol ⟨ŋ⟩ is 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 ⟨ɲ⟩, the symbol for the palatal nasal, which has a leftward-pointing hook extending from the bottom of the left stem.
An example of a language that lacks a phonemic or allophonic velar nasal is Russian, in which /n/ is pronounced as laminal denti-alveolar [n̪] even before velar consonants.[2]
Some languages have the pre-velar nasal,[3] which is articulated slightly more front compared with the place of articulation of the prototypical velar nasal, though not as front as the prototypical palatal nasal - see that article for more information.
Conversely, some languages have the post-velar nasal,[4] which is articulated slightly behind the place of articulation of a prototypical velar nasal, though not as back as the prototypical uvular nasal.
Features
Features of the voiced velar 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.
For many speakers, [ŋ] acts as a substitute for the nasalization of the preceding vowel, which may still be partially nasal. It is one of the most typical traits of varieties of French influenced by an Occitan substrate.
Occurs occasionally in slow, careful speech, as an allophone of /n/ before /ɡ/ and /k/, when the speaker does not delete the /n/ by fusing it with the preceding vowel.
^Instead of "pre-velar", it can be called "advanced velar", "fronted velar", "front-velar", "palato-velar", "post-palatal", "retracted palatal" or "backed palatal".
^Instead of "post-velar", it can be called "retracted velar", "backed velar", "pre-uvular", "advanced uvular" or "fronted uvular".
^Jeskanen, Matti; Jahn, Eila (2022). "Karjalan grammari kaikella rahvahalla 1" [Karelian Grammar to Commoners 1] (PDF) (in Karelian and Finnish). Karjalan Kielet ry. University of Eastern Finland. pp. 13, 19. Archived(PDF) from the original on 22 December 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
^Söderström, Sven (1980). Hössjömålet: ordbok över en sydvästerbottnisk dialekt (2. uppl ed.). Umeå: Dialekt- och ortnamnsarkivet. ISBN978-91-970358-1-1.
^Thompson (1959), pp. 458–461. sfnp error: no target: CITEREFThompson1959 (help)
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