12.2 GA and NA Nasals
The nasal consonants of AN and GA are:
| bilabial | alveolar | velar | |
| voiced | m | n | ŋ |
In both languages, the palatal nasal [ɲ] may arise as a result of the assimilation before [j]. (It is not considered a phoneme of either AN or GA because its occurrence is predictable by context.) In Dutch, [ɲ] occurs in franje, kun je. In GA this consonant may occur in words like canyon and onion.
canyon |
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Nasals are similar to vowels in that, depending on the context they may be long or short. The duration of GA nasals (and /l/) varies considerably. In a long context, i.e. before lenis obstruents and when final, nasals are fully long. In a short context, i.e. before a fortis obstruent, they tend to be quite short or, more frequently, elided, leaving a nasalized vowel.
There is no instance of /n/ deletion after /ə/ in GA as there is in some dialects of Dutch, as in lopen [loˑpə]. So make sure you pronounce a firm /n/ in delicatessen, Staten Island, /ˈstætn̩ ˈaɪlənd/.
Staten Island |
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In unaccented syllables, final -ing in GA is frequently pronounced /ən/ or /ɪn/ in informal styles, as in trying [ˈtraɪən, ˈtraɪɪn] (This pronunciation is often indicated in informal texts or dialogues by the spelling tryin’, but it must be noted that this is informal speech.)
Following /t, d/ syllabic /n/ may be heard, as in eatin’, ridin’ [ˈiːʔn̩, ˈraɪdn̩]. This substitution is not limited to the present participle ending, but affects all -ing sequences in weak syllables, which would therefore include words like pudding, Washington, lightning, but not shoestring.
