Retroflex nasal

Encyclopedia : R : RE : RET : Retroflex nasal

IPA – number 117
IPA – text
IPA – image
Entity ɳ
X-SAMPA n`
Kirshenbaum n.

The retroflex nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ɳ, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is n`. Like all the retroflex consonants, the IPA symbol is formed by adding a rightward pointing hook extending from the bottom of the symbol used for the equivalent alveolar consonant, in this case the alveolar nasal which has the symbol n. The IPA symbol is thus a lowercase letter n with a rightward tail protruding from the bottom of the right stem of the letter. Compare n and ɳ. The symbol ɳ should not be confused with ɲ, the symbol for the palatal nasal, which has a leftward-pointing hook extending from the bottom of the left stem or with ŋ, the symbol for the velar nasal, which has a leftward-pointing hook extending from the bottom of the right stem.

IPA – number	117
IPA – text
IPA – image
Entity	ɳ
X-SAMPA	n`
Kirshenbaum	`n.`

Features

Features of the retroflex nasal:

Its manner of articulation is stop, which means it is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract.
Its place of articulation is retroflex, which prototypically means it is articulated with the tip of the tongue curled up, but more generally means that it is postalveolar without being palatalized.
Its phonation type is voiced, which means the vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation.
It is a nasal consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the nose.
It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the middle of the tongue, rather than the sides.
The airstream mechanism is pulmonic egressive, which means it is articulated by pushing air out of the lungs and through the vocal tract, rather than from the glottis or the mouth.

In other languages

Retroflex nasal sounds are used extensively as phonemes in Dravidian and Indo-Aryan languages, such as Malayalam. In the Dravidian languages they tend to be prototypical sub-apical retroflexes, with the tip of the tongue curled back, while in the Indic languages they are apical consonants. An example of a Malayalam word that has this sound is [kɐɳːi], which means "link in a chain".

The retroflex nasal also occurs in Swedish, [huːɳ]"horn".

Retroflex nasal

Features

In other languages

See also