N

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N 14th letter of the modern Roman alphabet used for English and most other w European languages. It is derived from the Semitic letter nun, which was the pictorial representation of a fish. It was adopted by the Greeks as the letter nu and subsequently by the Romans. In English the letter is always pronounced as a voiced alveolar frictionless nasal continuant, with the tongue placed on the gum ridge above the upper teeth while air from the vocal tract escapes through the nose. N is unpronounced after m in a few words such as “condemn” and “hymn”.

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