Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Nh (digraph)

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Nh is a digraph of the Latin alphabet, a combination of N and H. Together with lh and the interpunct, it is a typical feature of Occitan, a language illustrated by medieval troubadours.

Contents

African languages

In some African languages, nh, such as Gogo, it's a voiceless /n̥/.

In the pre-1985 orthography of Guinea for its languages, nh represented a velar [ŋ], which is currently written ŋ.

Asian languages

In the Gwoyeu Romatzyh romanization of Mandarin Chinese, initial nh- indicates an even tone on a syllable beginning in [n], which is otherwise spelled n-.

Japanese

Early romanizations of Japanese, influenced by Portuguese orthography, sometimes used nh to represent a prepalatal. Today, this is usually written ny.

Vietnamese

In Vietnamese, nh represents a palatal [ɲ] word-initially. It was formerly considered a distinct letter, but is no longer. When this digraph occurs word-finally, its phonetic value varies between dialects:

  • In the northern dialect, it represents a velar nasal (ŋ), just as ng does; however, its presence may alter the pronunciation of the preceding vowel. For example, banh is pronounced /baɪŋ/, as opposed to /baŋ/ (bang).
  • In the southern dialect, it represents an alveolar nasal (n) and shortens the preceding vowel.
  • The Vietnamese alphabet inherited this digraph from the Portuguese orthography.

    Australian languages

    In the transcription of Australian Aboriginal languages, nh represents a dental [n̪]. Due to allophony, it may also represent a palatal [ɲ].

    American languages

    In Purépecha, it's a velar nasal, [ŋ].

    Occitan

    In Occitan, nh represents a palatal [ɲ].

    For n·h, see Interpunct#Occitan.

    Portuguese

    In Portuguese, nh represents a palatal [ɲ]. Due to allophony, it may represent the nasal approximant [ȷ̃] in most Brazilian, Santomean and Angolan dialects. It is not considered a distinct letter. Portuguese borrowed this digraph from Occitan.

    Galician

    In Galician, there are two diverging norms which give nh differing values.

  • According to the Real Academia Galega norm, nh represents a velar [ŋ], while ñ represents a palatal [ɲ].
  • According to the reintegrationist norm, mh represents a velar nasal [ŋ], while nh represents a palatal [ɲ].
  • In both norms, nh is not considered a distinct letter.

    Welsh

    In Welsh, nh is a voiceless alveolar nasal, /n̥/.

    References

    Nh (digraph) Wikipedia