Ŋ (letter)

letter of the Latin alphabet

Ŋ (lowercase: ŋ) is a letter in the International Phonetic Alphabet. It is a letter in the Latin alphabet It is used to represent a sound in many languages.

The sound of Ŋ is called a voiced velar nasal.

It is the same sound as the “ng” in the English word “sing.”[1]

Many languages use the letter ŋ in their alphabets.

Some examples include English. The letter is not used in usual English spelling, but the sound is common. For example, in “sing,” “long,” and “song.”

A group of languages spoken by the Sami people in Northern Europe.

Inuit: Languages spoken by the Inuit people in the Arctic regions of Greenland, Canada, and Alaska.

Several African languages, such as Wolof and Bambara, use the letter ŋ.

Appearance

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When it is uppercase, it looks like Ŋ. When the letter is lowercase, it looks like ŋ.

The lowercase letter looks like an “n” with a long right leg that goes to the left.

History

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The letter ŋ was first used in the 19th century by Danish Linguist Rasmus Rask.

It was later put into the International Phonetic Alphabet to show the voiced velar nasal sound

References

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  1. Robert W. Albright (1958). The International Phonetic Alphabet: Its Backgrounds and Development, Indiana University. p. 11