Voiceless alveolar nasal

Voiceless alveolar nasal
n̥
n̊
IPA number	116 402A
Encoding
X-SAMPA	n_0

The voiceless alveolar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represent this sound are ⟨n̥⟩ and ⟨n̊⟩, combinations of the letter for the voiced alveolar nasal and a diacritic indicating voicelessness, either above or below the letter. The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is n_0.

Features

Features of the voiceless alveolar 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.
• There are four specific variants of [n̥]:
  • Dental, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the upper teeth, termed respectively apical and laminal.
  • Denti-alveolar, which means it is articulated with the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, and the tip of the tongue behind upper teeth.
  • Alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
  • Postalveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.

• 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.

Occurrence

Alveolar

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Burmese[1]		နှာ	[n̥à]	'nose'
Central Alaskan Yup'ik[2]		ceńa	[t͡səˈn̥a]	'edge'
Estonian[3]		lasn	[ˈlɑsn̥]	'wooden peel'	Word-final allophone of /m/ after /t, s, h/.[3] See Estonian phonology
Icelandic[4]		hnífur	[ˈn̥ivʏr̥]	'knife'	See Icelandic phonology
Jalapa Mazatec[5]		[n̥ɛ]		'falls'	Contrasts with a voiced and a laryngealized alveolar nasal.
Kildin Sami[6]		чоӊтэ	[t͡ʃɔn̥te]	'to turn'
Welsh[7]		fy nhad	[və n̥aːd]	'my father'	Occurs as the nasal mutation of /t/. See Welsh phonology
Xumi	Lower[8]	[^Hn̥ɑ̃]		'fur, animal hair'	Contrasts with the voiced /n/.[8][9]
	Upper[9]	[^Hn̥ɔ̃]

See also

• Index of phonetics articles

References

1. Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), p. 111.
2. Jacobson (1995), p. 3.
3. Asu & Teras (2009), p. 368.
4. Árnason (2011), p. 115.
5. Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), p. 107.
6. Kuruch (1985), p. 529.
7. Jones (1984), p. 51.
8. Chirkova & Chen (2013), pp. 365, 367.
9. Chirkova, Chen & Kocjančič Antolík (2013), pp. 382–383.

Bibliography

• Árnason, Kristján (2011), The Phonology of Icelandic and Faroese, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0199229317
• Asu, Eva Liina; Teras, Pire (2009), "Estonian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 39 (3): 367–372, doi:10.1017/s002510030999017x
• Chirkova, Katia; Chen, Yiya (2013), "Xumi, Part 1: Lower Xumi, the Variety of the Lower and Middle Reaches of the Shuiluo River" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association 43 (3): 363–379, doi:10.1017/S0025100313000157
• Chirkova, Katia; Chen, Yiya; Kocjančič Antolík, Tanja (2013), "Xumi, Part 2: Upper Xumi, the Variety of the Upper Reaches of the Shuiluo River" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association 43 (3): 381–396, doi:10.1017/S0025100313000169
• Jacobson, Steven (1995), A Practical Grammar of the Central Alaskan Yup'ik Eskimo Language, Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center, ISBN 978-1-55500-050-9
• Jones, Glyn E. (1984), "The distinctive vowels and consonants of Welsh", in Martin J. Ball and Glyn E. Jones, Welsh Phonology: Selected Readings, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, pp. 40–64, ISBN 0-7083-0861-9
• Kuruch, Rimma (1985), Краткий грамматический очерк саамского языка (PDF) (in Russian), Moscow
• Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.