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Eng (letter)

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(Redirected fromŊ)
This article is about the Latin letter Ŋ. For the sound it represents, seevoiced velar nasal.
For the similarly shaped Greek letter (η), seeEta.For the similarly shaped Hebrew letter (מ), seeMem § Hebrew mem.For the Latvian and Marshallese character Ņ, seeCedilla § Languages with other characters with cedillas.
Ŋ
Ŋ ŋ
Writing cursive forms of Ŋ
Usage
Writing systemLatin script
TypeAlphabeticandLogographic
Language of originLatin language
Sound values
InUnicodeU+014A, U+014B
History
Development
Time period1619 to present
Descendantsʩ
SistersꞐ ꞑ
Transliterationsng
Other
Associated graphsn(x),ng
Writing directionLeft-to-Right
This article containsphonetic transcriptionsin theInternational Phonetic Alphabet(IPA).For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA.For the distinction between[ ],/ /and ⟨⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Engorengma(capital:Ŋ,lowercase:ŋ) is a letter of theLatin Alpha bet,used to represent avoiced velar nasal(as in Englishsinging) in the written form of some languages and in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet.

InWasho,lower-case⟨ŋ⟩represents a typical[ŋ]sound, while upper-case⟨Ŋ⟩represents avoiceless[ŋ̊]sound. This convention comes fromAmericanist phonetic notation.

History[edit]

TheFirst Grammatical Treatise,a 12th-century work on thephonologyof the Old Icelandic language, uses a singlegraphemefor the eng sound, shaped like a g with a stroke⟨ǥ⟩. Alexander Gill the Elderuses an uppercase G with a hooked tail and a lowercase n with the hooked tail of ascript g⟨ŋ⟩for the same sound inLogonomia Anglicain 1619.[1]William Holderuses the letter inElements of Speech: An Essay of Inquiry into the Natural Production of Letters,published in 1669, but it was not printed as intended; he indicates in hiserratathat “there was intended a character for Ng,viz.,n with a tail like that of g, which must be understood where the Printer has imitated it by n or y”.[2] It was later used inBenjamin Franklin'sphonetic Alpha bet,with its current phonetic value. It was supposed to be in English but failed.

Appearance[edit]

Lowercase eng is derived fromn,with the addition of a hook to the right leg, somewhat like that ofj.Nowadays, the uppercase has two main variants: it can be based on the usual uppercase N, with a hook added (or "N-form" ); or it can be an enlarged version of the lowercase (or "n-form" ). The former is preferred inSami languagesthat use it, the latter inAfrican languages,[3]such as inShonafrom 1931 to 1955, and several in west and central Africa currently. InIsaac Pitman’sPhonotypic Alphabet,the uppercase had a reversed-N form.

Early printers, lacking a specific glyph for eng, sometimes approximated it byrotating a capital G,or by substituting aGreek letterη(eta) before modified to present form⟨ŋ⟩for it (encoded in Unicode as the Latin letter n with long leg:Ƞ ƞ).

  • An 1856 text in Gamilaraay, using a rotated capital G as a substitute for ŋ.
    An 1856 text inGamilaraay,using a rotated capital G as a substitute for ŋ.
  • Uppercase eng with the reversed-N-form on the Kingston Buildings in Bath, UK.
    Uppercase eng with the reversed-N-form on the Kingston Buildings in Bath, UK.
  • Lowercase and uppercase eng with the reversed-N-form of the uppercase used in a 1875 Gamilaraay text.
    Lowercase and uppercase eng with the reversed-N-form of the uppercase used in a 1875 Gamilaraay text.
  • Eng used in a 1875 Gamilaraay text.
    Eng used in a 1875 Gamilaraay text.
  • Italic ŋ based on double-storey g as used in Horatio Hale's Ethnography and Philology (1846).
    Italic ŋ based ondouble-storey gas used inHoratio Hale'sEthnography and Philology(1846).
  • ᶇ ŋ ɲ ɳ: four "n"-based IPA symbols for nasal sounds.
    ᶇ ŋ ɲ ɳ:four "n" -based IPA symbols for nasal sounds.

Pronunciation of words containing eng sound[edit]

In most languages eng is absent in the Latin Alpha bet but its sound can be present in the letter n in words. In English, it is heard in the potential digraphs nc (hard c), ng (hard g), nk, nq and nx, often at the end of words. For the pronunciation of ng with eng, it can be/ŋ/in words such assingerandhangedand when it is in final position or/ŋg/in words such asfingerandangle.

In British English, n is pronounced eng in the prefixes en- and in- when they are followed by c, g and q, as inencroachment,engagement,enquiry,incursion,ingredient,inquiryand others. In other English dialects, the n is pronounced/n/instead. In many British dialects, the ng instrengthandlengthis simply pronounced/n/,with g a silent letter, and the ng is otherwise pronounced/ŋ/in those words.

Usage[edit]

Technical transcription[edit]

Vernacular orthographies[edit]

Janalifvariant of eng is represented as N withdescender.An equivalentversion is used in theCyrillic Alpha bet.

Languages marked † no longer use eng, but formerly did.

Computer encoding[edit]

Eng is encoded in Unicode as U+014ALATIN CAPITAL LETTER ENGand U+014BLATIN SMALL LETTER ENG,part of theLatin Extended-Arange. InISO 8859-4(Latin-4) it's located at BD (uppercase) and BF (lowercase).

In African languages such asBemba,ng'(with an apostrophe) is widely used as a substitute in media where eng is hard to reproduce.

See also[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toEng.

Similar Latin letters:

Similar Cyrillic letters:

Similar Greek letters:

References[edit]

  1. ^David Crystal(2003).The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language
  2. ^Robert W. Albright (1958).The International Phonetic Alphabet:Its Backgrounds and Development, Indiana University. p. 11
  3. ^"Essay Archives and Poetry".Retrieved10 June2004.
  4. ^Everson, Michael;et al. (2002-03-20)."L2/02-141: Uralic Phonetic Alphabet characters for the UCS"(PDF).
  5. ^Everson, Michael; Dicklberger, Alois; Pentzlin, Karl; Wandl-Vogt, Eveline (2011-06-02)."L2/11-202: Revised proposal to encode" Teuthonista "phonetic characters in the UCS"(PDF).
  6. ^Majnep, Ian Saem;Bulmer, Ralph(1977).Birds of my Kalam Country[Mn̄mon Yad Kalam Yakt]. illustrations by Christopher Healey. New Zealand: Auckland University Press. pp. 17–18.ISBN9780196479538.OCLC251862814.

External links[edit]

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