The voiced retroflex nasal is a type of
consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract, except for the h sound, which is pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Examples are and pronou ...
al sound, used in some
spoken language
Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...
s. The symbol in the
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standard written representation ...
that represents this sound is , and the equivalent
X-SAMPA symbol is
n`
.
Like all the
retroflex consonant
A retroflex () or cacuminal () consonant is a coronal consonant where the tongue has a flat, concave, or even curled shape, and is articulated between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate. They are sometimes referred to as cerebral consona ...
s, the IPA symbol is formed by adding a rightward-pointing hook extending from the bottom of an en (the letter used for the corresponding
alveolar consonant
Alveolar consonants (; UK also ) are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the upper teeth. Alveolar consonants may be articulated wi ...
). It is similar to , the letter for the
palatal nasal, which has a leftward-pointing hook extending from the bottom of the left stem, and to , the letter for the
velar nasal
The voiced velar nasal, also known as eng, engma, or agma (from Greek 'fragment'), is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It is the sound of ''ng'' in English ''sing'' as well as ''n'' before velar consonants as in ''E ...
, which has a leftward-pointing hook extending from the bottom of the right stem.
Features

Features of the voiced retroflex nasal:
Occurrence
Voiced retroflex nasal flap
Features
Features of the retroflex nasal tap or flap:
Occurrence
See also
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Index of phonetics articles
Notes
References
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External links
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{{IPA navigation
Retroflex consonants
Nasal consonants
Pulmonic consonants
Voiced consonants