20
N and NN.
24. Initial n broad and nn broad are formed by pressing the tongue against the inside of the upper teeth and sending a current of voiced air through the nose.
In Munster nn broad when final has not quite such a broad sound as that indicated in the previous paragraph. The n sound is produced by placing the point of the tongue on the “hard rim” nearer to the teeth than for the English “n” in “no,” yet without touching them.
(a) Initial n slender and nn slender have the sound of the “n” in “Newry,” “new,” “news”—the front of the tongue presses against the “hard rim.”
The incipient spirant is very marked after slender n when initial.
In Munster, generally, nn slender when medial is pronounced as slender ng, but when final it often gets the sound of slender nn elsewhere.
Single n between vowels, or at the end of words, is usually pronounced like the English “n.”
After ai, oi, ui, single n is usually pronounced like the “n” in “Newry”—e.g., báin, aráin, móin, bróin, buin, doṁain.
The n in muna is pronounced (and now usually written) r.
NG.
25. NG is a simple consonantal sound, and all writers on phonetics assert that it should be represented by a single character. NG may be regarded as a nasalized “g,” just as “n” is a nasalized d, and m a nasalized b. In the production of ng the tongue is not pressed so
