Retroflex nasal

IPA – number	117
IPA – text	ɳ
IPA – image
Entity	ɳ
X-SAMPA	n`
Kirshenbaum	n.
Sound sample (help·info)

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.

Features

Features of the retroflex nasal:

• Its manner of articulation is nasal, which means it is produced by the release of air through the nasal cavity.
• 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.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Enindhilyagwa		yingarna	[jiŋaɳa]	'snake'
Hindi		गणेश	[ɡəɳeʃ]	'Ganesha'	See Hindi-Urdu phonology
Kannada		ಅಣೆ	[ʌɳe]	'dam'
Malayalam[1]		അണ	[aɳa]	'jaw'
Norwegian		garn	[ɡɑːɳ] (help·info)	'yarn'	See Norwegian phonology
Punjabi		ਪੁਰਾਣਾ/پُراڻا	[pʊraːɳaː]	'old'
Swedish		garn	[ɡɑːɳ] (help·info)	'yarn'	See Swedish phonology
Tamil[2]		அணல்	[aɳal]	'neck'	See Tamil phonology
Telugu		ఒణ్ఢు	[oɳɖu]	'one'

See also

• List of phonetics topics

References

Bibliography

• Keane, Elinor (2004), "Tamil", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (1): 111-116 
• Ladefoged, Peter (2005). Vowels and Consonants (Second ed.). Blackwell.