{"id":10032,"date":"2024-10-22T02:48:57","date_gmt":"2024-10-22T00:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/ay-ramon-que-hacer-con-el-jamon-the-pronunciation-of-the-n\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T07:00:33","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T06:00:33","slug":"ay-ramon-que-hacer-con-el-jamon-the-pronunciation-of-the-n","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/ay-ramon-que-hacer-con-el-jamon-the-pronunciation-of-the-n\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00a1Ay, Ram\u00f3n! \u00bfQu\u00e9 hacer con el jam\u00f3n?: the pronunciation of the N."},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\tI<\/span>\n\t\t\t

apologize for the alteration I made to the song lyrics, which I want to share with you, in the title of this post, but it amused me.<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
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Ay, amor, \u00bfqu\u00e9 hacer con este amor? (Oh, love, what to do with this love?)<\/p>

Ay, Ram\u00f3n, \u00bfqu\u00e9 hacer con el jam\u00f3n? (Oh, Ram\u00f3n, what to do with the ham?)<\/p>

They sound similar, don\u2019t they? Sorry for the bad joke. The point is, this post needs sound because we\u2019ll be talking about the pronunciation of the letter n in Spanish, which, while it doesn\u2019t have too many variations, does have a few. So I thought of leaving you the following video so that, if you want, you can read along with music. It\u2019s also because it contains many examples of the velar pronunciation of n at the end of words, something that doesn\u2019t occur in my variety of Spanish, but which I personally love the sound of. I\u2019ll also be using technical terms and symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet, which might not mean much to some readers, but hearing the sounds makes everything easier.<\/p>

So, here’s the video.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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<\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Vico C. 1 de Noviembre 2024. Lo grande que es perdonar. <\/span>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_kzbd56qpf8<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The letter n is part of the nasal sounds in Spanish, which are sounds\u2014not exclusive to Spanish\u2014that are produced with the soft palate lowered, allowing air to flow through the nose. From a phonetic perspective, n is a voiced nasal consonant, and its point of articulation can basically be either alveolar, meaning the tongue tip rests against those small ridges behind the upper teeth, or velar, where the back of the tongue presses against the back of the hard palate. I say \u201cbasically\u201d because there are nuances: the point of articulation depends on the consonant sounds that follow it and, of course, the specific variety of Spanish being spoken. It\u2019s worth noting that if the n is followed by a vowel, its pronunciation will always be the most common: voiced alveolar nasal.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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La pronunciaci\u00f3n m\u00e1s frecuente de la letra N es la nasal sonora alveolar \/n\/<\/em>. The most common pronunciation of the letter n is the voiced alveolar nasal \/n\/. In fact, nearly all the ns in the previous sentence are pronounced this way except, as we\u2019ll see next, the n in \u201cfrecuente\u201d (frequent), where the point of articulation changes. This is because the point of articulation for n changes according to the consonant that follows it. For instance, before \/t\/ it is dental, meaning the point of articulation is the upper incisors, as in \u201cfrecuente\u201d (frequent), while before \/b\/ it becomes bilabial, as in \u201cson buenos\u201d (they are good) when both words are pronounced without a pause in between. In this case, it almost sounds like an m. And I have to use separate words here because in Spanish, there is a spelling rule that prevents the letter n from being followed by a b within a single word. Another example is when it appears before f, where the point of articulation becomes labiodental, adapting to the articulation of the consonant that follows.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Before \/k\/ and \/g\/, the n becomes a voiced velar nasal consonant (\/\u014b\/). This means that, since these consonants have a velar point of articulation, the n preceding them adjusts its point of articulation, just as in the cases we mentioned in the previous paragraph, though this time it shifts further from its most common point of articulation. In words like tango (tango), \u00e1ngel (angel), ancla (anchor), or banco (bank), the n is pronounced as a voiced velar nasal consonant, meaning the back of the tongue rests against the rearmost part of the hard palate. Once again, when n is followed by a consonant, it adapts its point of articulation to match that of the following consonant. It\u2019s worth noting that if the order of sounds is reversed, the n reverts to its alveolar articulation, as in words like t\u00e9cnica (technique), ar\u00e1cnido (arachnid), asignar (to assign), or magnate (tycoon).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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A very common variation in the pronunciation of n is the velar pronunciation at the end of a word, especially if it\u2019s the last word spoken or if the following word begins with a vowel. This variant is widespread – in the Caribbean, along the Pacific coast, and so on. This pronunciation creates a musicality unfamiliar to my variety of Spanish, but one that I personally love the sound of. Let\u2019s look at a few examples.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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No me mates m\u00e1s co\/n\/ ese rencor…<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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