# Voiced dental, alveolar and postalveolar nasals

The voiced alveolar nasal is a type of consonantal sound used in numerous spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar nasals is ⟨n⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is n.
The vast majority of languages have either an alveolar or dental nasal. There are a few languages that lack either sound but have [m], such as Yoruba, Palauan, and colloquial Samoan (however, these languages all have [ŋ]. An example of a language without [n] and [ŋ] is Edo). There are some languages (e.g. Rotokas) that lack both [m] and [n].
True dental consonants are relatively uncommon. In the Romance, Dravidian, and Australian languages, n is often called "dental" in the literature. However, the rearmost contact, which gives a consonant its distinctive sound, is actually alveolar or denti-alveolar. The difference between the Romance languages and English is not so much where the tongue contacts the roof of the mouth but the part of the tongue that makes contact. In English, it is the tip of the tongue (such sounds are termed apical), but in the Romance languages, it is the flat of the tongue just above the tip (such sounds are called laminal).
However, there are languages with true apical (or less commonly laminal) dental n. It is found in the Mapuche language of South America, where it is actually interdental. A true dental generally occurs allophonically before /θ/ in the languages that have it, as in English tenth. Similarly, a denti-alveolar allophone occurs in languages that have denti-alveolar stops, as in Spanish cinta.
Some languages contrast laminal denti-alveolar and apical alveolar nasals. For example, in the Malayalam pronunciation of Nārāyanan, the first n is dental, the second is retroflex, and the third alveolar.
A postalveolar nasal occurs in a number of Australian Aboriginal languages, including Djeebbana and Jingulu.

## Features

Features of the voiced 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 [n]:
** 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 voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
* 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.
* It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
* Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

## Occurrence
### Dental or denti-alveolar

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Belarusian | Belarusian | новы/novy | [ˈn̪ovɨ] | 'new' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Contrasts with palatalized form. See Belarusian phonology |
| Bulgarian | Bulgarian | жена/žena | [ʒɛˈn̪a] | 'woman' | Laminal denti-alveolar. |
| Catalan | Catalan | cantar | [kən̪ˈt̪ä] | 'to sing' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of /n/ before /t, d/. See Catalan phonology |
| Chuvash | Chuvash | шăна/šăna | [ʃɒn̪a] | 'a fly' |
| Dutch | Belgian | nicht | [n̻ɪxt̻] | 'niece' | Laminal denti-alveolar, sometimes simply alveolar. See Dutch phonology |
| English | English | month | [mʌn̪θ] | 'month' | Interdental. Allophone of /n/ before /θ, ð/. |
| Esperanto | Esperanto | Esperanto | [espeˈran̪t̪o] | 'one who hopes' | See Esperanto phonology |
| Finnish | Finnish | ranta | [ˈran̪t̪a] | 'beach' | Allophone of /n/ before /t̪/. |
| French | French | connexion | [kɔn̻ɛksjɔ̃] | 'connection' | Laminal denti-alveolar, sometimes simply alveolar. See French phonology |
| Greek | Greek | άνθος/ánthos | [ˈɐn̪θo̞s] | 'flower' | Interdental. Allophone of /n/. See Modern Greek phonology |
| Hindustani | Hindi | नया / najā | [n̪əjaː] | 'new' | See Hindi–Urdu phonology |
| Hindustani | Urdu | نیا / najā | [n̪əjaː] | 'new' | See Hindi–Urdu phonology |
| Hungarian | Hungarian | nagyi | [ˈn̪ɒɟi] | 'grandma' | Laminal denti-alveolar. See Hungarian phonology |
| Italian | Italian | cantare | [kän̪ˈt̪äːre] | 'to sing' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of /n/ before /t, d, s, z, t͡s, d͡z/. See Italian phonology |
| Irish | Irish | naoi | [n̪ˠɰiː] | 'nine' | Velarized. |
| Japanese | Japanese | 涙/namida | [n̪ämʲid̪ä] | 'tear' | Laminal denti-alveolar. See Japanese phonology |
| Kashubian | Kashubian | naprësk | [n̪aprəsk] | 'shower' | Laminal denti-alveolar. |
| Kazakh | Kazakh | көрінді/körindi | [kœɾɪn̪d̪ɪ] | 'it seemed' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of /n/ before /t, d/. |
| Kyrgyz | Kyrgyz | беделинде/bedelinde | [be̞d̪e̞lin̪d̪e̞] | 'in the authority' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of /n/ before /t, d/. |
| Latvian | Latvian | nakts | [n̪äkt̪s̪] | 'night' | Laminal denti-alveolar. See Latvian phonology |
| Macedonian | Macedonian | нос/nos | [n̪o̞s̪] | 'nose' | Laminal denti-alveolar. See Macedonian phonology |
| Malayalam | Malayalam | പന്നി/panni | [pɐn̪ːi] | 'pig' | Interdental for some speakers. See Malayalam phonology |
| Mapudungun | Mapudungun | müṉa | [mɘ̝ˈn̪ɐ̝] | 'male cousin on father's side' | Interdental. |
| Marathi | Marathi | नख/nakh | [n̪əkʰ] | 'fingernail' | See Marathi phonology |
| Nepali | Nepali | सुगन्ध | [suˈɡʌn̪d̪ʱʌ] | 'fraɡrance' | Allophone of /n/ in neighbourhood of /t̪, t̪ʰ, d̪, d̪ʱ/. |
| Polish | Polish | nos | [n̪ɔs̪] | 'nose' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Alveolar before /t͡ʂ, d͡ʐ/. See Polish phonology |
| Portuguese | General | narina | | 'nostril' | Laminal denti-alveolar. May nasalize preceding vowel (especially if stressed). Has [ɲ̟] as allophone, forming from clusters with [j], and before /i/. |
| Portuguese | Vernacular Paulista | percebendo | [pe̞ʁse̞ˈbẽn̻u] | 'perceiving' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of /d/ after a stressed nasal vowel in more stigmatized varieties. See Portuguese phonology |
| Romanian | Romanian | alună | [äˈl̪un̪ə] | 'hazelnut' | Laminal denti-alveolar. See Romanian phonology |
| Russian | Russian | наш/naš | [n̪aʂ] | 'our' | Laminal denti-alveolar, contrasts with palatalized form. See Russian phonology |
| Scottish Gaelic | Scottish Gaelic | nàdar | [ˈn̪ˠaːt̪aɾ] | 'nature' | Velarized. Contrasts with alveolar /n/ and palatal /ɲ/. |
| Serbo-Croatian | Serbo-Croatian | student / студент / | [s̪t̪ǔd̪e̞n̪t̪] | 'student' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of /n/ before /t, d, s, z, t͡s/. See Serbo-Croatian phonology |
| Slovene | Slovene | prevarant | [pɾeʋaˈɾǎːn̪t̪] | 'con artist' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of /n/ before /t, d, s, z, t͡s/. See Slovene phonology |
| Spanish | Most dialects | cantar | [kän̪ˈt̪är] | 'to sing' | Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of /n/ before /t, d/. See Spanish phonology |
| Tamil | Tamil | நாடு/nāḍu | [n̪ɑːɖɯ] | 'country' | See Tamil phonology |
| Telugu | Telugu | నములుట | [n̪amu] | 'To chew' | Occurs as an allophone of anuswara when followed by dental stops. |
| Ukrainian | Ukrainian | наш/nash | [n̪ɑʃ] | 'our' | Laminal denti-alveolar, contrasts with palatalized form. See Ukrainian phonology |
| Uzbek | Uzbek | nima/нимa/نىمه | [n̪imæ] | 'what' | Laminal denti-alveolar. |

### Alveolar

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Adyghe | Adyghe | нэфнэ/nėfnė | [nafna] | 'light' | |
| Arabic | Standard | نور/nūr | [nuːr] | 'light' | See Arabic phonology |
| Assyrian | Assyrian | ܢܘܪܐ/nōra | [noːɾaː] | 'mirror' | |
| Basque | Basque | ni | [ni] | 'I' | |
| Bengali | Bengali | নাক/naak/nāk | [naːk] | 'nose' | See Bengali phonology |
| Cantonese | Cantonese | 年/nìhn | [ni:n˨˩] | 'year' | See Cantonese phonology |
| Catalan | Catalan | neu | [ˈneʊ̯] | 'snow' | See Catalan phonology |
| Czech | Czech | na | [na] | 'on' | See Czech phonology |
| Dutch | Dutch | nacht | [nɑxt] | 'night' | See Dutch phonology |
| English | English | nice | | 'nice' | See English phonology |
| Finnish | Finnish | annan | [ˈɑnːɑn] | 'I give' | See Finnish phonology |
| German | German | fünf | [fʏnf] | 'five' | See German phonology |
| Georgian | Georgian | კანი/k'ani | [ˈkʼɑni] | 'skin' | |
| Greek | Greek | νάμα/náma | [ˈnama] | 'communion wine' | See Modern Greek phonology |
| Gujarati | Gujarati | નહી/nahi | [nəhi] | 'no' | See Gujarati phonology |
| Hawaiian | Hawaiian | naka | [naka] | 'to shake' | See Hawaiian phonology |
| Hebrew | Hebrew | נבון/navon | [navon] | 'wise' | See Modern Hebrew phonology |
| Italian | Italian | nano | [ˈnäːno] | 'dwarf' | See Italian phonology |
| Irish | Irish | binn | [bʲiːnʲ] | 'peak' | Palatalized. |
| Khmer | Khmer | នគរ nôkôr | [nɔkɔː] | 'kingdom' | See Khmer phonology |
| Korean | Korean | 나라/nara | [nɐɾɐ] | 'Country' | See Korean phonology |
| Kurdish | Northern | giyanewer | [ˈgʲɪjä:ˈnɛwɛˈɾ] | 'animal' | See Kurdish phonology |
| Kurdish | Central | گیانلەبەر/gîyânlabar | [ˈgʲiːäːnˈlæbæˈɾ] | 'animal' | See Kurdish phonology |
| Kurdish | Southern | گیانلەبەر/gîyânlabar | [ˈgʲiːäːnˈlabaˈɾ] | 'animal' | See Kurdish phonology |
| Kyrgyz | Kyrgyz | банан/banan | [baˈnan] | 'banana' | |
| Malay | Malay | nasi | [näsi] | 'cooked rice' | |
| Malayalam | Malayalam | ആന | [äːn] | 'elephant' | See Malayalam phonology |
| Maltese | Maltese | lenbuba | [lenbuˈba] | 'truncheon' | |
| Mandarin | Mandarin | 難/难/nán | [nan˧˥] | 'difficult' | See Mandarin phonology |
| Mapudungun | Mapudungun | müna | [mɘ̝ˈnɐ̝] | 'enough' | |
| Ngwe | Mmockngie dialect | [nøɣə̀] | [nøɣə̀] | 'sun' | |
| Nepali | Nepali | नक्कल/nakkal | [nʌkːʌl] | 'imitation' | See Nepali phonology |
| Odia | Odia | ନାକ/nāka | [näkɔ] | 'nose' | |
| Okinawan | Okinawan | ʻnmu | [ʔn̩mu] | 'potato' | Can occur as onset, nucleus, or coda. Allophone of [m], [ŋ], and [ɴ] in coda, but phonemic elsewhere. |
| Persian | Persian | نون/nun | [nun] | 'bread' | |
| Pirahã | Pirahã | gíxai | [níˈʔàì̯] | 'you' | |
| Polish | Polish | poncz | [ˈpɔn̥t͡ʂ] | 'punch' | Allophone of /n/ (which is normally laminal denti-alveolar [n̪]) before /t͡ʂ, d͡ʐ/. See Polish phonology |
| Punjabi | Punjabi | ਨੱਕ/nakk | [nəkː] | 'nose' | |
| Scottish Gaelic | Scottish Gaelic | anail | [ˈãnal] | 'breath' | Contrasts with velarised dental /n̪ˠ/ and palatal /ɲ/. |
| Slovak | Slovak | na | [nä] | 'on' | |
| Slovene | Common | novice | [noˈʋìːt̪͡s̪ɛ́] | 'news' | |
| Slovene | Some speakers | konj | [ˈkɔ̂nː] | 'horse' | See Slovene phonology |
| Spanish | Spanish | nada | [ˈnäð̞ä] | 'nothing' | See Spanish phonology |
| Swahili | Swahili | ndizi | [n̩dizi] | 'banana' | |
| Tagalog | Tagalog | nipis | [nipis] | 'thin' | Tagalog phonology |
| Thai | Thai | นอน/non | [nɔːn] | 'sleep' | See Thai phonology |
| Toki Pona | Toki Pona | noka | [noka] | 'foot' | |
| Turkish | Turkish | neden | [ne̞d̪æn] | 'reason' | See Turkish phonology |
| Tamil | Tamil | மனசு/manasu | [mʌnʌsɯ] | 'mind', 'heart' | See Tamil phonology |
| Vietnamese | Vietnamese | bạn đi | [ɓanˀ˧˨ʔ ɗi] | 'you're going' | Occurs only before alveolar consonants. See Vietnamese phonology |
| Welsh | Welsh | nain | [nain] | 'grandmother' | See Welsh phonology |
| Western Apache | Western Apache | non | | 'cache' | |
| West Frisian | West Frisian | nekke | [ˈnɛkə] | 'neck' | |
| Yi | Yi | ꆅ/na | [na˧ ] | 'hurt' | |
| Zapotec | Tilquiapan | nanɨɨ | [nanɨˀɨ] | 'lady' | contrasts with a fortis alveolar nasal that is not represented in the orthography. |

### Postalveolar

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Catalan | Catalan | panxa | ['pän̠ɕə] | 'belly' | Allophone of /n/ before /ʃ, ʒ, t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/, may be alveolo-palatal instead. See Catalan phonology |
| Djeebbana | Djeebbana | barnmarramarlón̠a | [ban̠maramal̠ɔn̪a] | 'they two swam' | Result of rhotic plus alveolar [n]. |
| English | Australian | enrol | [əṉˈɹ̠ɔo̯ɫ] | 'enrol' | Allophone of /n/ before /r/. See Australian English phonology |
| Italian | Italian | angelo | [ˈän̠ʲːd͡ʒelo] | 'angel' | Palatalized laminal; allophone of /n/ before /ʃ, t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/. See Italian phonology |

### Variable

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| English | Scottish | nice | [nəis] | 'nice' | Laminal denti-alveolar for some speakers, alveolar for other speakers. |
| English | Welsh | nice | [nəis] | 'nice' | Laminal denti-alveolar for some speakers, alveolar for other speakers. |
| German | Standard | Lanze | [ˈlant͡sə] | 'lance' | Varies between laminal denti-alveolar, laminal alveolar and apical alveolar. See Standard German phonology |
| Norwegian | Urban East | mann | [mɑn̻ː] | 'man' | Varies between laminal denti-alveolar and laminal alveolar. See Norwegian phonology |
| Swedish | Central Standard | nu | [nʉ̟ː] | 'now' | Varies between laminal denti-alveolar and alveolar, with the former being predominant. See Swedish phonology |