Nh (digraph)

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Nh is a digraph of the Latin alphabet, a combination of N and H.

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[edit] African languages

In some African languages, nh is used to represent a dental nasal (IPA: /n̪/).

In the pre-1985 orthography of Guinea for its languages, nh represented the velar nasal, (IPA: /ŋ/), which is currently written ŋ.

[edit] Asian languages

[edit] Japanese

Early romanizations of Japanese sometimes used nh to represent a prepalatal nasal (IPA: [ɲ̟]). Today, this is usually written ny.

[edit] Vietnamese

In Vietnamese, nh represents a palatal nasal (IPA: /ɲ/) word-initially. It was formerly considered a distinct letter, but is no longer. When this digraph occurs word-finally, its phonetic value varies between dialects:

  • In the northern dialect, it represents a velar nasal (ŋ), just as ng does; however, its presence may alter the pronunciation of the preceding vowel. For example, banh is pronounced /baɪŋ/, as opposed to /baŋ/ (bang).
  • In the southern dialect, it represents an alveolar nasal (n) and shortens the preceding vowel.

The Vietnamese alphabet inherited this digraph from the Portuguese orthography.

[edit] Australian languages

In the transcription of Australian Aboriginal languages, nh represents a dental nasal (IPA: /n̪/). Due to allophony, it may also represent a palatal nasal (IPA: [ɲ]).

[edit] European languages

[edit] Occitan

In Occitan, nh represents a palatal nasal (IPA: /ɲ/).

For n·h, see Interpunct#Occitan.

[edit] Portuguese

In Portuguese, nh represents a palatal nasal (IPA: /ɲ/). It is not considered a distinct letter. Portuguese borrowed this digraph from Occitan.[1]

[edit] Galician

In Galician, there are two diverging norms which give nh diverging values.

In both norms, nh is not considered a distinct letter.

[edit] Welsh

In Welsh, nh is a voiceless /n/.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Jean-Pierre JUGE (2001) Petit précis - Chronologie occitane - Histoire & civilisation, p. 25

[edit] External links

Languages