Phonetics

2.4. Nasals

Are consonants where the air passes through the nose. When the soft palate is lowered and the oral cavity is shut off, the air could pass through the nasal cavity .However, the articulation of the nasals takes place somewhere in the mouth.

The basic feature of a nasal is that the air escapes through the nose and the main difference between the three types of nasals is the point where the air is stopped in the mouth. In this sense, there are three types of nasals: bilabial /m/, alveolar /n/ and velar / ŋ /. This last velar sound never occurs in initial position; in medial position, it may appear with or without a /g/ sound, depending on whether it occurs at the end of a morpheme or not. If it occurs in the middle of a morpheme it has a following /g/. In final position the preceding rule is observed.  All nasals are voiced.

                              Nasals

Bilabial                  m

Alveolar                n

Velar                     ŋ