# nature of the letter n



## Abandoned

Hi . Could anyone enlighten me about the nature of the Czech letter n , and does anyone have evidence of this , please ?  I ask because in the Czech alphabet table on page 439 ( within the chapter on Czech ) of R.G.A. De Bray's Guide to the Slavonic Languages the author states that Czech n is alveolar , yet I fear that that may be an error since he writes of ' ...dentals t , d , and n ) ... ' on page 440 , of ' ... the dentals t, d , n ' on page 442 , and of ' ... true dentals (t , d , n ) ' on page 443 . It is of course possible that page 439 is correct and that the quoted parts of pages 440 , 442 , and 443 are erroneous , though that would seem unlikely given that a complete set of three consonants is printed in each of the three later places . Can anyone confirm that De Bray ought to have printed ' dental ' rather than ' alveolar ' in the alphabet table on page 439 , please ?  That same table states that d and t are dental , so the system there does not forbid the term ' dental ' . Thank you .


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## bibax

According to the Czech literature (as well as Wikipedia) the consonants  T, D, N, C, S, Z, L, R, Ř are alveolar (more precisely prealveolar).
The consonant N is velar nasal before velar consonants (baŋka, maŋgo).


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## Abandoned

Thank you !

I'm sure you're right , though it is surprising considering that De Bray uses the term ' dental ' so widely in the way that I have just described . Noting that you say the precise description is ' prealveolar ' , could it be that ' prealveolar ' is intermediate between what is truly alveolar and what is truly dental ? I ask because a column headed ' Dentoalveolar ' is to be found between a column headed ' Dental ' and a column headed ' Alveolar ' on De Bray's page 249 ( albeit in his Macedonian chapter ')  . So one might ask : Is 'prealveolar ' synonymous with ' dentoalveolar ' ?


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## bibax

IMHO dento-alveolar (or denti-alveolar) means that the consonants are articulated with _*a flat tongue*_ against the alveolar ridge *and* upper teeth (t in Spanish and French).

The Czech and English t is apical (prealveolar, alveovar, resp.), articulated with *the tip of the tongue*. So we can distinguish apical prealveolar, alveolar and postalveolar consonants, according to the position of the tongue tip relatively against the gum ridge.

Frankly I hear no difference between the Czech prealveolar and English alveolar t. The main audible difference resides in aspiration (Czech ten vs. English ten).

In any case the prealveolar vs. alveolar distinction is not phonemic in Czech.


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## Abandoned

Thank you for your replies . I shall take the view , therefore , that Czech t , d , and n are ALL in the EXACTLY the same category and that De Bray's alphabet table on page 439 is erroneous in suggesting that Czech n differs from the Czech d and t by dint of labelling that n as alveolar while labelling the d and t as dental


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## bibax

When I pronounce "táta, dáda, nána" I don't notice any shift of the tongue tip. The tip is slightly shifted from the alveolar ridge towards the teeth.

Naturally, I can be biased.


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## Abandoned

Thank you very much . That settles that issue .


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