Voiceless palatal nasal

Updated on Jan 01, 2025

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The voiceless palatal nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represent this sound are ⟨ɲ̊⟩ and ⟨ɲ̥⟩, which are combinations of the letter for the voiced palatal nasal and a diacritic indicating voicelessness. The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is J_0.

If distinction is necessary, the voiceless alveolo-palatal nasal may be transcribed as ⟨n̠̊ʲ⟩ (devoiced, retracted and palatalized ⟨n⟩), or ⟨ɲ̟̊⟩ (devoiced and advanced ⟨ɲ⟩); these are essentially equivalent, since the contact includes both the blade and body (but not the tip) of the tongue. The equivalent X-SAMPA symbols are n_-' or n_-_j and J_0_+, respectively. A non-IPA letter ⟨ȵ̊⟩ (devoiced ⟨ȵ⟩, which is an ordinary "n", plus the curl found in the symbols for alveolo-palatal sibilant fricatives ⟨ɕ, ʑ⟩) can also be used.

Features

Features of the voiceless 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 voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords.

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.

References

Voiceless palatal nasal Wikipedia

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