N, n [Called ‘en’]. The 14th LETTER of the Roman ALPHABET as used for English. It originated as the Phoenician symbol nun, adopted by the Greeks as nu (N), a form which the Romans adopted in their turn.
In English, the letter n represents a voiced alveolar nasal. Before a vowel, the sound-symbol correspondence is regular (name, many), but in loans from French a preceding medial g indicates a y-sound after the n (cognac: ‘conyack’). In FRENCH loans n may nasalize a preceding vowel, but have no clear sound of its own (restaurant, lingerie). Articulation may be affected by a following consonant: b, p may give the value of m, as in inbred (‘imbred’) and input (‘imput’), and following hard c, k, g, q, x may produce a velar nasal ‘ng’: zinc, increase, ink, sing, anger, concrete, congress, conquer, anxious.
(1) In monosyllables following an initial consonant and vowel, n is normally single (ban, can, fan, man, ran, tan, ten, tin, ton, tun), with doubling before inflections beginning with a vowel (bans, banned, banning). Nn follows the initial short vowel in inn, Ann, but not in grammatical words (an, in, on). (2) In disyllables, after a short vowel, especially before -er, -a, -y: manner, tenner, dinner, gunner; manna, henna; canny, tinny. The pairs dinner/diner, tinny/tiny show the force of the doubling. However, many other words do not observe this pattern: any, canon (beside cannon), enemy, honour, linen, money, tenor. A single n is usual before -ish (banish, replenish, finish (compared Finnish), astonish, punish, Spanish) and -ion (companion, minion, pinion, onion, bunion). Many such words derive from French, but do not follow modern French use of nn/n: dîner, ennemi, étonner, honneur, manière, monnaie. (3) With the Germanic prefix un- before n (unnecessary, unnerved) and Latin prefixes ending in or assimilated to n (annul, connect, innate, innocent). (4) When the Germanic suffix -ness is added to words ending in n: barrenness, openness (but usually with a geminated or ‘double’ pronunciation). (5) In the comparative of adjectives ending in n following a short vowel if stressed (thinner, thinnest), but not if unstressed (commoner, commonest).
The letter n may have syllabic value after alveolar consonants, as in the negative contractions hadn't, isn't, mightn't and the name Haydn. In similar environments, syllabic n can alternate with /n/ preceded by schwa. The SCHWA may, however, be spelt with a range of vowel letters: beaten, raisin, fashion, cotton. These variations can cause uncertainty: for example, in the endings -ant, -ent: resistant, consistent. See A.
Sometimes, an epenthetic n has been inserted in a word: messenger, passenger, from message, passage (compare French messager, passager). See EPENTHESIS.
(1) Some nouns have lost an initial n that has been transferred to the indefinite article: an adder from a nadder, an apron from a naperon, an umpire from a noumpere. (2) Conversely, the n of an has sometimes been transferred to a following noun: a newt from an ewt, a nickname from an ekename, the nonce from then anes. See METANALYSIS.
(1) Word-final n is silent after m (damn, hymn, autumn, column), including inflected forms (condemned, condemning), but is pronounced in derived forms where a vowel follows (autumnal, condemnation, hymnal, solemnity). (2) N is sometimes preceded by a silent g, k, p: gnat, feign, foreign; knit, know; pneumatic, pneumonia. See G, K, P.
Many words in older English which ended in n (often an inflection) have lost the n with the inflection. Nevertheless, there are some pairs of words in which one member is without and another has kept the final n: a/an, drunk/drunken, maid/maiden, my/mine, oft/often, ope/open. One of the terms often has an archaic or poetic flavour: maiden, oft, ope. The inflectional function survives in the olden of olden days/times.
