Nh (digraph)

Nh is a

In the Gwoyeu Romatzyh romanization of Mandarin Chinese, initial nh- indicates an even tone on a syllable beginning in [n], which is otherwise spelled n-.

Japanese

Early romanizations of Japanese, influenced by Portuguese orthography, sometimes used nh to represent a prepalatal. Today, this is usually written ny.

Vietnamese

In Vietnamese, nh represents a palatal [ɲ] word-initially. It was formerly considered a distinct letter, but is no longer. When this digraph occurs word-finally, its phonetic value varies between dialects:

• In the northern dialect, it represents a
  ng
  does; however, its presence may alter the pronunciation of the preceding vowel. For example, banh is pronounced /baɪŋ/, as opposed to /baŋ/ (bang).
• In the southern dialect, it represents an
  alveolar nasal
  (n) and shortens the preceding vowel.

The Vietnamese alphabet inherited this digraph from the Portuguese orthography.

Australian languages

In the

In Occitan, nh represents a palatal [ɲ].

For n·h, see Interpunct § Occitan.

Portuguese

In Portuguese, nh represents a palatal [ɲ]. Due to allophony, it may represent the nasal palatal approximant [ȷ̃] in most Brazilian, Santomean and Angolan dialects. It is not considered a distinct letter. Portuguese borrowed this digraph from Occitan.^[1]

Galician

In Galician, there are two diverging norms which give nh differing values.

• According to the
  Real Academia Galega norm, nh represents a velar [ŋ], while ñ represents a palatal [ɲ
  ].
• According to the
  reintegrationist norm, mh represents a velar nasal [ŋ], while nh represents a palatal [ɲ
  ].

In neither norm is nh considered a distinct letter.^[citation needed]

Welsh

In Welsh, nh is a voiceless alveolar nasal, /n̥/ (a ⟨t⟩ under the nasal mutation).

See also

• ny (digraph)
• Portuguese orthography

References

External links

• Practical Orthography of African Languages