Lj (digraph) - N

N

⟨n’⟩ is used in the Xhosa and Shona languages for /ŋ/. Since ⟨’⟩ is not a letter in either language, ⟨n’⟩ is not technically a digraph.

⟨nb⟩ is used in Pinyin for /mb/ in languages such as Yi.

⟨nc⟩ is used in various alphabets. In the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, it represents the sound /ɲɟ/. In Xhosa and Zulu it represents the click /ᵑǀ/.

⟨nd⟩, in many African languages, represents /nd/ or /ⁿd/, and capitalized ⟨Nd⟩. It is used in Irish for the eclipsis of ⟨d⟩, and represents /n/, for example in ár ndoras "our door" (cf. doras "door"). In this function it is capitalized ⟨nD⟩, e.g. i nDoire "in Derry". In Standard Zhuang and in Bouyei, ⟨nd⟩ is used for .

⟨nf⟩, equivalent to ⟨mf⟩ for /mf/ or /ᵐf/.

⟨ng⟩, in English and several other European and derived orthographies, generally represents the velar nasal . It is considered a single letter in many Austronesian languages (Māori, Tagalog, Tongan, Kiribatian, Tuvaluan, Indonesian), the Welsh language, and Rheinische Dokumenta, for velar nasal /ŋ/; and in some African languages (Lingala, Bambara, Wolof) for prenasalized /ɡ/ (/ⁿɡ/).

The Finnish language uses the digraph 'ng' to denote the phonemically long velar nasal /ŋː/ in contrast to 'nk' /ŋk/, which is its "strong" form under consonant gradation, a type of lenition. Weakening /k/ produces an archiphonemic "velar fricative", which, as a velar fricative does not exist in Standard Finnish, is assimilated to the preceding /ŋ/, producing /ŋː/. (No /ɡ/ is involved at any point, despite the spelling 'ng'.) The digraph 'ng' is not an independent letter, but it is an exception to the phonemic principle, one of the few in standard Finnish.

In Irish ng is used word-initially as the eclipsis of g and represents, e.g. ár ngalar "our illness" (cf. . In this function it is capitalized nG, e.g. i nGaillimh "in Galway".

In Tagalog and other Philippine languages, ng represented the prenasalized sequence during the Spanish era. The velar nasal, was written in a variety of ways, namely "n͠g", "ñg", "gñ" (as in Sagñay), and—after a vowel—at times "g̃". During the standardization of Tagalog in the early part of the 20th century, ng came for the velar nasal, while prenasalized came to be written ngg. Furthermore, ng is also used for a common genitive particle pronounced, to differentiate it from an adverbial particle nang.

⟨ńg⟩ is used in Central Alaskan Yup'ik to write the voiceless nasal sound /ŋ̊/.

⟨ñg⟩, or more precisely ⟨n͠g⟩, was a digraph in several Spanish-derived orthographies of the Pacific, such as that of Tagalog and Chamorro, where it represented the sound /ŋ/, as opposed to ng, which originally represented /ŋɡ/. An example is Chamorro agan͠gñáijon (modern agangñaihon) "to declare". Besides ñg, variants of n͠g include gñ (as in Sagñay), ng̃, and a g̃, that is preceded by a vowel (but not a consonant). It has since been replaced by the trigraph ⟨ngg⟩ or ⟨ng⟩ (see above).

⟨ng’⟩ is used for /ŋ/ in Swahili and languages with Swahili-based orthographies. Since ⟨’⟩ is not a letter in Swahili, ⟨ng’⟩ is technically a digraph, not a trigraph.

⟨nh⟩ (see article)

⟨nj⟩ is a letter present in the Latin orthographies of Serbo-Croatian. Ljudevit Gaj, a Croat, first used this digraph in 1830. It is also used in the Albanian alphabet. In all of these languages, it represents the palatal nasal /ɲ/. For example, the Croatian and Serbian word konj (horse) is pronounced /koɲ/. The digraph was created in the 19th century by analogy with a digraph of Cyrillic, which developed into the ligature ⟨Њ⟩. There are dedicated glyphs in Unicode, NJ, Nj, nj.

In Faroese, it generally represents /ɲ/, although in some words it represent /nj/, like in banjo. It is also used in some languages of Africa and Oceania where it represents a prenazalized voiced postalveolar affricate or fricative, /ⁿdʒ/ or /ⁿʒ/. In Malagasy, it represents /ⁿdz/.

Other letters and digraphs of the Latin alphabet used for spelling this sound are ⟨ń⟩ (in Polish), ⟨ň⟩ (in Czech and Slovakian), ⟨ñ⟩ (in Spanish), ⟨nh⟩ (in Portuguese and Occitan), ⟨gn⟩ (in Italian and French), and ⟨ny⟩ (in Hungarian, among others).

⟨nk⟩ is used in the orthography of many Bantu languages like Lingala, Tshiluba, and Kikongo, for /ŋk/ or /ᵑk/. In the transcription of Australian Aboriginal languages such as Warlpiri, Arrernte, and Pitjantjatjara, it distinguishes a prenasalized velar stop, /ŋ͡k ~ ŋ͡ɡ/, from the nasal /ŋ/.

⟨nm⟩ is used in Yélî Dnye of Papua New Guinea for doubly articulated /n͡m/.

⟨ńm⟩ is used in Yélî Dnye of Papua New Guinea for doubly articulated /n̪͡m/.

⟨nn⟩ is used in Irish orthography for the Old Irish "fortis sonorants" /Nˠ/ ("broad", i.e. non-palatalized or velarized) and /Nʲ/ ("slender", i.e. palatalized) in non-initial position. In modern Irish, the "broad" sound is /n̪ˠ/, while the slender sound can be any of /nʲ/, /n̠ʲ/, or /ɲ/, depending on dialect and position in the word. In Spanish historical nn⟩ has contracted to the ligature ñ⟩ and represents the sound /ɲ/. In the Gwoyeu Romatzyh romanization of Mandarin Chinese, final -nn indicates a falling tone on a syllable ending in /n/, which is otherwise spelled -n. It is used in Haida (Bringhurst orthography) for glottalized /ˀn/. In Piedmontese, it is /ŋn/ in the middle of a word, and /n/ at the end.

⟨np⟩ is used in the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, where it represents the sound /mb/.

⟨nq⟩ is used in various alphabets. In the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, it represents the sound /ɴɢ/. In Xhosa and Zulu it represents the click /ᵑǃ/. In the Gwoyeu Romatzyh romanization of Mandarin Chinese, final -nq indicates a falling tone on a syllable ending in /ŋ/, which is otherwise spelled -ng.

⟨nr⟩ is used in the Romanized Popular Alphabet used to write Hmong, where it represents the sound /ɳɖ/.

⟨ns⟩, in many African languages, represents /ns/ or /ⁿs/.

⟨nt⟩ is a letter present in many African languages where it represents /nt/ or /ⁿt/ .

⟨nv⟩, equivalent to ⟨mv⟩ for /mv/ or /ᵐv/.

⟨nw⟩ is used in Igbo for /ŋʷ/, and in Arrernte for /nʷ/.

⟨nx⟩ is used for the click /ᵑǁ/ in alphabets such as Xhosa and Zulu, and in Nambikwara for a glottalized /ˀn/.

⟨ny⟩ (see article)

⟨nz⟩, in many African languages, represents /nz/ ~ /ⁿz/, /ndz/ ~ /ⁿdz/, /nʒ/ ~ /ⁿʒ/, or /ndʒ/ ~ /ⁿdʒ/.

⟨n-⟩ is used for medial /ŋ/ in Piedmontese.