[g]→[ŋ]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 3/5
Voiced velar plosive to Velar nasal
In many Japanese dialects, including Standard Japanese (traditionally), the voiced velar plosive [g] is realized as a velar nasal [ŋ] when it occurs in intervocalic positions or word-medially.
Phonetic Effects
Language Examples
/g/ (intervocalic)→[ŋ]— Traditional 'bidakuon' (nasalized g) in Standard Japanese (e.g., 'kago' [kaŋo]).
ᵑɡ (prenasalized voiced velar stop)→ŋ— In Trans-New Guinea languages, the Proto-TNG prenasalized stop *ᵑɡ simplifies to a plain velar nasal [ŋ] in syllable-final and certain intervocalic positions. Kalam orthographic /g/ historically represents a prenasalized stop; across TNG subgroups this series simplifies to [ŋ] in syllable codas, a widespread process in the family.
Proto-TNG *ᵑɡ (word-final)→ŋ— Enga (Engan branch, Enga Province, Papua New Guinea) regularly shows word-final prenasalized stops simplified to nasals. The velar series *ᵑɡ yields [ŋ] in coda position, contributing to the typical Trans-New Guinea pattern of nasal-only final consonant inventories. Enga is among the largest languages of Papua New Guinea with approximately 230,000 speakers.
Related Transformations
More Nasalization Shifts
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