# pronunciation - Ñ



## kanttwo

Hello,

I would like to know who you pronounce "Ñ" in English.

My surname is Bolaños and I have a little problem to spell it in english.

Thank you.


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## M.TERESA

El nombre de mi marido es Iñaki, yo se lo hago pronunciar como INIAKI


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## Frank Furt

Try "'n' with dash".

Bolaños: b-o-l-a-n with dash-o-s


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## derail

En mi opinión,  el angloparlante promedio entendería "n with dash" como "n-".
Creo que  "swung dash" es el término correcto para referirse a esa tilde (o cómo se llame), sin embargo casi nadie lo conoce.
Yo diría que, a menos que se tratara de un contexto formal, la mejor manera para describir esa letra es "n with a squiggle above". Así todo el mundo entendería a lo que te refieres.


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## dexterciyo

From Wikipedia



> In English, it is sometimes called the "Spanish N", "enye", or "enyay" (Spanish "eñe").



What do the natives think?


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## derail

"Spanish N" = I'm sure I've heard it and I think most people would understand what it meant without hesitation.

  "enye", "enyay", "Spanish eñe" = I've never heard anyone, British or  American, use these terms. I'd say only someone who knew the Spanish alphabet would be familiar with "enye/enyay".


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## Valtiel

Supongo que lo pronuncian como _n_, al igual que suelen «simplificar» la erre (ere doble) a ere y demás costumbres... La verdad es que no suelo oír a ingleses nativos pronunciar eñes...

Saludos.


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## Moritzchen

It would be pronounced Bolanos over here. Some articles in the media are starting to include the "ñ" when it comes to last names as in the case of Congressman Nuñez, now if you hear the name on TV, they´ll say Nunez. When it comes to spelling the name, you´d simplify it by saying B-o-l-a-n-o-s.


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## portumania

Why do not you type it "nn"? Ñ historically it is a ligature of a  double n (and also of "gn" ligno and "ni" senior)


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## bronsonduerden

The pronounciation of -ñ- does exist in the English language.  For example, in the word "canyon" the combination of -ny- create a sound very similar to the -ñ- in Spanish.  In the US, I think there are enough latinamerican people that if you say "enye" most people will know what you mean. Also if a northamerican reads a word with an -ñ- they usually will know how to pronounce it.  Of course, there still are ignorant people that will mispronounce it, but the majority of the people will at realize what the -ñ- means at at least have some basic knowledge of how to pronounce it.  Suerte


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## djadds

ñ is not generally pronounced by English speakers without knowledge of Spanish. It is just as if it were "n." This is why you hear so many anglo speakers pronounce "español" as "espanol."


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## k-in-sc

Ñ is "n with a tilde." In English only the ~ is called a "tilde." But a lot of people just know it as "that little squiggly line." 
So when spelling your name, say ''B-O-L-A-  ...N with a tilde, that's the little squiggly line ... O-S." 
But most computers in the English-speaking world aren't set up to type a Ñ anyway.


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## XiaoRoel

Lo que facilitaría a los anglohablantes la pronunciación de la /*ñ*/ sería escribirla a la catalana: /*ny*/, _*Espanya*_.


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## Valtiel

Yes, _that little squiggly line_ is named tilde. 

Well, in American or English keyboards and computers the _ñ_ letter is not set to a key by default, but we ever have the *ALT + numpad* tool.

Edito: estoy totalmente a favor de lo que propone XiaoRoel; yo siempre lo digo también.

Regards.


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## OrCuS

XiaoRoel said:


> Lo que facilitaría a los anglohablantes la pronunciación de la /*ñ*/ sería escribirla a la catalana: /*ny*/, _*Espanya*_.



Yo soy administrador de sistemas y todos los usuarios y correos electrónicos que hay que crear para personas con apellidos con "ñ" los escribimos así 

De todas formas yo diría "spanish N". Creo que esto sería especialmente claro en UK en donde España es un destino turístico bastante común, mucha gente ha estado aquí y ha visto el nombre del país escrito con "Ñ", así que "spanish N" me parece bastante gráfico.


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## k-in-sc

Yes, if they mispronounce it, just correct them. There's nothing difficult about the pronunciation.


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## kanttwo

ufff!
There many opinions about this.
I think that I´ll use "spanish N" or "N with dash".

Thank to everybody.


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## k-in-sc

It's not a dash. A dash is "guión." As another forero already said:

En mi opinión, el angloparlante promedio entendería "n with dash" como "n-".


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## Valtiel

k-in-sc said:


> It's not a dash. A dash is "guión." As another forero already said:
> 
> En mi opinión, el angloparlante promedio entendería "n with dash" como "n-".



Exactly.


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## kanttwo

derail said:


> En mi opinión, el angloparlante promedio entendería "n with dash" como "n-".
> Creo que "swung dash" es el término correcto para referirse a esa tilde (o cómo se llame), sin embargo casi nadie lo conoce.
> Yo diría que, a menos que se tratara de un contexto formal, la mejor manera para describir esa letra es "n with a squiggle above". Así todo el mundo entendería a lo que te refieres.


 
Its name is "VIRGULILLA" but frankly speaking I learnt it some months ago . 
It´s strange to know this.Spanish people usually say "tilde" as you.

Thank you.


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## kanttwo

ok.
So I will say "N with squiggle above".
Thank you.


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## Valtiel

Here and here is the answer to _tilde_ or _virguilla_.

Regards.


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## k-in-sc

"Spanish N" sounds like a pretty good option too, especially if accompanied by an illustrative squiggling motion of the finger.


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## kanttwo

Valtiel said:


> Here and here is the answer to _tilde_ or _virguilla_.
> 
> Regards.


 
Como siempre ,la sagrada RAE sacandome de dudas.Entonces "tilde" tambien vale.


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## Valtiel

kanttwo said:


> Como siempre ,la sagrada RAE sacandome de dudas.Entonces "tilde" tambien vale.



Precisamente para eso está la RAE y toda la ASALE, para tipificar, divulgar, guiar, resolver las dudas y aplicar un mínimo y necesario control lingüístico.

No es que _tilde_ también valga, es que es más _tilde_ que _virguilla_; pero sí, ambas valen... 

Saludos.


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## Lurrezko

k-in-sc said:


> "Spanish N" sounds like a pretty good option too, especially if accompanied by an illustrative squiggling motion of the finger.



Eso es exactamente lo que yo hacía cuando alguien tenía que escribir mi apellido, apoyarme en la mímica . Para explicar cómo pronunciarlo, el ejemplo de Bronsonduerden era infalible, ("a la catalana", como bien dice Xiaroel): *ny, as in canyon*. Siempre funcionaba


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## duvija

Valtiel said:


> Yes, _that little squiggly line_ is named tilde.
> 
> Well, in American or English keyboards and computers the _ñ_ letter is not set to a key by default, but we ever have the *ALT + numpad* tool.
> 
> Edito: estoy totalmente a favor de lo que propone XiaoRoel; yo siempre lo digo también.
> 
> Regards.


 
I agree. The problem is that the question was about a name, I thought.
The lack of tilde in English causes some troubles. A Mexican soap opera was called 'Los años perdidos', but in the paper they don't use the ñ, therefore ... you get how's written...


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