Voiced velar nasal | |||
---|---|---|---|
ŋ | |||
IPA Number | 119 | ||
Audio sample | |||
Encoding | |||
Entity (decimal) | ŋ | ||
Unicode (hex) | U+014B | ||
X-SAMPA | N | ||
Braille | ![]() | ||
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The voiced velar nasal, also known as agma, from the Greek word for 'fragment', is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. 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. Both the IPA symbol and the sound are commonly called 'eng' or 'engma'.
As a phoneme, the velar nasal does not occur in many of the indigenous languages of the Americas, languages of the Middle East, Romance languages, or languages of the Caucasus, but it is extremely common in Australian Aboriginal languages and is also common in many languages of Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia, Southeast Asia and Polynesia. While almost all languages have /m/ and /n/, /ŋ/ is rarer.[1] Half of the 469 languages surveyed in Anderson (2008) had a velar nasal phoneme; as a further curiosity, many of them limit its occurrence to the syllable coda. In many languages that do not have the velar nasal as a phoneme, it occurs as an allophone of /n/ before velar consonants. This kind of assimilation can even be found in languages with phonemic voiced velar nasals, such as English. An example of this is the word income; its underlying representation, /ˈɪnˌkʌm/, can be realized as either [ˈɪnˌkʌm] or [ˈɪŋˌkʌm].
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 of the voiced velar nasal:
Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Albanian | ngaqë | [ŋɡacə] | 'because' | ||
Aleut[5] | chaang | [tʃɑːŋ] | 'five' | ||
Arabic | Hejazi [citation needed] |
مــنــقل/mingal | [mɪŋɡal] | 'brazier' | Allophone of /n/ before velar stops. See Hejazi Arabic phonology |
Armenian | Eastern[6] | ընկեր/ënker | [əŋˈkɛɾ] | 'friend' | Allophone of /n/ before velar consonants |
Assamese | ৰং/ŗông | [ɹɔŋ] | 'color' | ||
Asturian | non | [nõŋ] | 'no' | Allophone of /n/ in word-final position, either before consonants other than velar stops or vowel-beginning words or before a pause. | |
Bambara | ŋonI | [ŋoni] | 'guitar' | ||
Bashkir | мең / meñ | ⓘ | 'one thousand' | ||
Basque | hanka | [haŋka] | 'leg' | ||
Bengali | রঙ/rông | [ɾɔŋ] | 'color' | ||
Bulgarian[7] | тънко/tănko | [ˈtɤŋko] | 'thin' | ||
Cantonese | 昂/ngòhng | [ŋɔːŋ˩] | 'raise' | See Cantonese phonology | |
Catalan[8] | sang | [ˈsɑ̃ŋ(k)] | 'blood' | See Catalan phonology | |
Cebuano | ngano | [ˈŋano] | 'why' | ||
Chamorro | ngånga' | [ŋɑŋaʔ] | 'duck' | ||
Chukchi | ӈыроӄ/ṇyroq | [ŋəɹoq] | 'three' | ||
Czech | tank | [taŋk] | 'tank' | See Czech phonology | |
Dinka | ŋa | [ŋa] | 'who' | ||
Danish | sang | [sɑŋˀ] | 'song' | See Danish phonology | |
Dutch[9] | angst | [ɑŋst] | 'fear' | See Dutch phonology | |
Eastern Min | 疑/ngì | [ŋi53] | 'suspect' | ||
English | sing | ⓘ | 'sing' | Restricted to the syllable coda. See English phonology | |
Faroese | ong | [ɔŋk] | 'meadow' | ||
Fijian | gone | [ˈŋone] | 'child' | ||
Filipino | ngayón | [ŋaˈjon] | 'now' | ||
Finnish | kangas | [ˈkɑŋːɑs] | 'cloth' | Occurs in native vocabulary only intervocally (as a geminate) and before /k/. See Finnish phonology | |
French[10] | Standard | camping | [kɑ̃piŋ(ɡ)] | 'camping' | Occurs only in words borrowed from English or Chinese. See French phonology |
Southern France | pain | [pɛŋ] | 'bread' | 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. | |
Galician | unha | [ˈuŋa] | 'one' (f.) | ||
Gan | 牙/nga | [ŋa] | 'tooth' | ||
German | lang | [laŋ] | 'long' | See Standard German phonology | |
Greek | άγχος / anchos | ['aŋxo̞s] | 'Stress' | See Modern Greek phonology | |
Hakka | Sixian | 我/ngô | [ŋai˨˦] | 'I' | |
Hebrew | Standard | אנגלית/anglit | [aŋɡˈlit] | 'English language' | Allophone of /n/ before velar stops. See Modern Hebrew phonology |
Sephardi | עין/nayin | [ŋaˈjin] | 'Ayin' | See Sephardi Hebrew | |
Hiligaynon | buang | [bu'äŋ] | 'crazy/mentally unstable' | ||
Hindustani | Hindi | रंग/रङ्ग/raṅg | [rəŋg] | 'color' | See Hindustani phonology |
Urdu | رن٘گ/raṅg | ||||
Fiji Hindustani | Rang | ||||
Hungarian | ing | [iŋɡ] | 'shirt' | Allophone of /n/. See Hungarian phonology | |
Icelandic | göng | [ˈkœy̯ŋk] | 'tunnel' | See Icelandic phonology | |
Ilocano | ngalngal | [ŋalŋal] | 'to chew' | ||
Inuktitut | ᐴᙳᐆᖅ / puunnguuq | [puːŋŋuːq] | 'dog' | ||
Inuvialuktun | qamnguiyuaq | [qamŋuijuaq] | 'snores' | ||
Irish | a nglór | [ˌə̃ ˈŋl̪ˠoːɾˠ] | 'their voice' | Occurs word-initially as a result of the consonantal mutation eclipsis. See Irish phonology | |
Italian[11] | anche | [ˈaŋke] | 'also' | Allophone of /n/ before /k/ and /ɡ/. See Italian phonology | |
Itelmen | қниң | [qniŋ] | 'one' | ||
Japanese | Standard | 南極 / nankyoku | [naŋkʲokɯ] | 'the South Pole' | See Japanese phonology |
Eastern dialects[12] | 鍵 / kagi | [kaŋi] | 'key' | ||
Javanese | ꦱꦺꦔꦏ꧀/Sengak | [səŋŋak] | stink | Additional /ŋ/ caused by vowel after /ŋ/ sounding | |
Jin | Yuci | 我/ngie | [ŋie] | 'I' | |
Kagayanen[13] | manang | [manaŋ] | 'older sister' | ||
Kazakh | мың / myń | [məŋ] | 'thousand' | ||
Kyrgyz | миң/miñ | [miŋ] | |||
Ket | аяң/ajaņ | [ajaŋ] | 'to damn' | ||
Khasi | ngap | [ŋap] | 'honey' | ||
Khmer |
|
|
See Khmer phonology | ||
Korean | 성에 / seonge | [sʌŋe] | 'window frost' | See Korean phonology | |
Kurdish | Northern | ceng | [dʒɛŋ] | 'war' | See Kurdish phonology |
Central | جهنگ/ceng | ||||
Southern | |||||
Luxembourgish[14] | keng | [kʰæŋ] | 'nobody' | See Luxembourgish phonology | |
Macedonian | aнглиски/angliski | [ˈaŋɡliski] | 'English' | Occurs occasionally as an allophone of /n/ before /k/ and /ɡ/. See Macedonian phonology | |
Luganda | ŋaaŋa | [ŋɑːŋɑ] | 'hornbill' | ||
Malay | Malaysian and Indonesian | bangun | [ˈbaŋʊn] | 'wake up' | |
Kelantan-Pattani | sini | [si.niŋ] | 'here' | See Kelantan-Pattani Malay | |
Terengganu | ayam | [a.jaŋ] | 'chicken' | See Terengganu Malay | |
Malayalam[5] | മാങ്ങ/mān̄n̄a | [maːŋŋɐ] | 'mango' | ||
Mandarin | Standard | 北京/Běijīng | [peɪ˨˩tɕiŋ˥] | 'Beijing' | Restricted to the syllable coda. See Mandarin phonology |
Sichuanese | 我/ngo3 | [ŋɔ˨˩] | 'I' | ||
Marathi | रंग/ranga | [rəŋə] | 'colour' | See Marathi phonology | |
Mari | еҥ/eng | [jeŋ] | 'human' | ||
Mongolian | тэнгэр / teŋger | [teŋger] | 'sky' | ||
Nepali | नङ/nang | [nʌŋ] | 'nail' | See Nepali phonology | |
Nganasan | ӈаӈ/ngang | [ŋaŋ] | 'mouth' | ||
Nivkh | ңамг/ngamg | [ŋamɡ] | 'seven' | ||
North Frisian | Mooring | kåchelng | [ˈkɔxəlŋ] | 'stove' | |
Northern Min | 外/ngui | [ŋui] | 'outside' | ||
Norwegian | gang | [ɡɑŋ] | 'hallway' | See Norwegian phonology | |
Odia | ଏବଂ/ebang | [ebɔŋ] | 'and' | ||
Ottoman Turkish | یڭی/yeŋi | 'new' | |||
Panjabi | Gurmukhi | ਰੰਗ/rang | [rəŋ] | 'color' | |
Shahmukhi | رنگ/rang | ||||
Persian | [ræːŋ] | See Persian phonology | |||
Pipil | nemanha | [nemaŋa] | 'later' | ||
Polish[15] | bank | [bäŋk] | 'bank' | Allophone of /n/ before /k, ɡ, x/; post-palatal before /kʲ, ɡʲ/.[16][17] See Polish phonology | |
Portuguese | manga | [ˈmɐ̃(ŋ)ɡɐ] | 'mango' | 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. | |
Occitan | Provençal | vin | [viŋ] | 'wine' | |
Rapanui | hanga | [haŋa] | 'bay' | Sometimes written ⟨g⟩ in Rapanui | |
Romanian | Țara Moților Transylvanian[18] | câine | ['kɨŋi] | 'dog' | Corresponds to [n] in standard Romanian. See Romanian phonology |
Samoan | gagana | [ŋaˈŋana] | 'language' | ||
Serbo-Croatian[19] | станка / stanka | [stâːŋka] | 'pause' | Allophone of /n/ before /k, ɡ, x/.[19] See Serbo-Croatian phonology | |
Seri | comcáac | [koŋˈkaak] | 'Seri people' | ||
Shona | n'anga | [ŋaŋɡa] | 'traditional healer' | ||
Slovene | tank | [ˈt̪âːŋk] | 'tank' | ||
Southern Min | Hokkien | 黃/n̂g | [ŋ̍˨˦] | 'yellow' | |
Teochew | 黃/ng5 | [ŋ̍55] | |||
Spanish[20] | All dialects | domingo | [d̪o̞ˈmĩŋɡo̞] | 'Sunday' | Allophone of /n/ before velar consonants. See Spanish phonology |
Galician Spanish, Andalusian, Canarian, and most Caribbean dialects | alquitrán | [alkitˈɾaŋ] | 'tar' | Allophone of /n/ in word-final position, either before consonants other than velar stops or vowel-beginning words or before a pause. | |
Swahili | ng'ombe | [ŋombɛ] | 'cow' | ||
Swedish | ingenting | [ɪŋɛnˈtʰɪŋ] | 'nothing' | See Swedish phonology | |
Tamil | இங்கே/in̄gē | [iŋgeː] | 'here' | ||
Telugu | వాఙ్మయం | [ʋaːŋmajam] | 'Literature' | Allophone of anuswara when followed by velar stop | |
Tibetan | Standard | ང/nga | [ŋa˩˧] | 'I' | |
Thai | งาน/ngaan | [ŋaːn] | 'work' | ||
Nuer - Thok Nath | ŋa | [ŋa] | 'who?' or 'Is who?' | ||
Tongan | tangata | [taŋata] | 'man' | ||
Tuamotuan | rangi / ragi | [raŋi] | 'sky' | ||
Tundra Nenets | ӈэва/ŋəwa | [ŋæewa] | 'head' | ||
Turkmen | müň | [myŋ] | 'thousand' | ||
Tyap | nɡɡwon | [ŋɡʷən] | 'child' | ||
Uzbek | ming | [miŋ] | 'thousand' | ||
Venetian | man | [maŋ] | 'hand' | ||
Vietnamese[21] | ngà | [ŋaː˨˩] | 'ivory' | See Vietnamese phonology | |
Welsh | rhwng | [r̥ʊŋ] | 'between' | ||
West Frisian | kening | [ˈkeːnɪŋ] | 'king' | ||
Wu | 五/ng | [ŋ˩˧] | 'five' | ||
Xhosa | [ing'ang'ane] Error: ((Lang)): text has malformed markup (help) | [iŋaŋaːne] | 'hadada ibis' | ||
Xiang | 熬/ngau | [ŋau] | 'to boil' | ||
Yi | ꉢ/nga | [ŋa˧] | 'I' | ||
Yup'ik | ungungssiq | [uŋuŋssiq] | 'animal' | ||
Zapotec | Tilquiapan[22] | yan | [jaŋ] | 'neck' | Word-final allophone of lenis /n/ |