alveolar nasal

The alveolar nasal is a type of consonantal sound used in numerous spoken languages.

The velar nasals have fallen together with the alveolar nasals.

Features of the alveolar nasal:

Some languages contrast laminal denti-alveolar and apical alveolar nasals.

N represents a dental or alveolar nasal in virtually all languages that use the Latin alphabet, and in the International Phonetic Alphabet.

In fact, some conservative Irish dialects have two palatalized alveolar nasals, distinguished as "fortis" (apical and somewhat lengthened) vs. "lenis" (laminal).

Other consonants include labial and alveolar nasals; alveolar, velar and glottal fricatives; and alveolar and palatal approximants.