The voiceless alveolar nasal is a type of consonant in some languages. The symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represent the sound are ⟨n̥⟩ and ⟨n̊⟩, combinations of the letter for the voiced alveolar nasal and a diacritic indicating voicelessness above or below the letter. The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is n_0.
Features
Features of the voiceless 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 [n̥]:
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 voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords.
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.
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