Ṇ

Ṇ (uppercase: Ṇ, lowercase: ṇ) is a letter in the Latin alphabet. It is made by adding a dot below the letter N. This letter is used in the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) and in some Indic languages.

 How it sounds 
In Sanskrit and other Indic languages, ṇ represents a retroflex nasal sound. This means the sound is made by curling the tongue back in the mouth and letting the air flow through the nose.

For example, the word “अणु” (aṇu), which means “atom” in Sanskrit, is pronounced like “aṇu”.

 Usage in different languages 

 Sanskrit 
Also see: Sanskrit language

The letter ṇ is used in many Sanskrit words. It helps to show the correct pronunciation of words that have a retroflex nasal sound. One example is the word “कर्ण” (karṇa), which means “ear” in Sanskrit. It is pronounced like “karṇa”. Another example is the word for "hand" in Sanskrit: “पाणि” (pāṇi), pronounced like “pāṇi”.

 Hindi 
Also see: Hindi language

In Hindi, ṇ is used in words borrowed from Sanskrit and in some native words. For example, the word “ठण्डा” (ṭhaṇḍā), which means “cold”, is pronounced like “ṭhaṇḍā”. The word “गणेश” (Gaṇeś), the name of a Hindu deity, is pronounced like “Gaṇeś”.

 Marathi 
Also see: Marathi language

In Marathi, ṇ is used similarly to Hindi and Sanskrit. For example, the word “माणूस” (māṇūs), which means “man”, is pronounced like “māṇūs”.

 Historical development 
The letter ṇ has its origins in the ancient Brahmi script, which is the ancestor of many Indic scripts. The use of the dot below the letter N to indicate a retroflex nasal sound has been carried over into modern transliterations of Sanskrit and other Indic languages.

 Unicode 
The letter Ṇ has special codes in computers:

 Uppercase Ṇ: U+1E46
 Lowercase ṇ: U+1E47

These codes are used to represent the letter in digital text.

References

Category:Latin letters with diacritics