A phonological study of n in standard English and standard Arabic

Abstract EN

The present study is concerned with studying the consonant /n/ phonologically in both standard English and standard Arabic.

Thus, a detailed analysis has focused on its assimilation patterns and its features as a nasal consonant and how it affects the neighboring sounds, in addition to its behavior as a hidden sound when followed by certain consonants.

The research under analysis aims at identifying the points of similarity and difference between such patterns and features of /n/ in English and Arabic.

Accordingly, it is hypothesized that the similarities are more than the differences between those patterns and characteristics in the two languages.

It is concluded that /n/ assimilates to the same sounds in both languages with the exception of certain sounds in one language that have no counterparts in the other one such as English /ŋ/ and /p/ and Arabic /�, ṭ, ṣ, q/ and /ḍ/.

Additionally, its nasalization transfers to its neighboring sounds in both languages and that it is hidden under the influence of approximately the same consonants following it in English and Arabic.