Gn (digraph)

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Gn is a digraph of the Latin Alphabet found in many languages.

In Latin, "gn" was pronounced [ŋn]. Latin velar-coronal digraphs like this (and also cl, cr, ct, gd, gl, gr, and x) underwent a palatal mutation to varying degrees in most Italo-Western Romance languages, and in most of those languages that preserve the gn spelling (such as Italian and French), it is pronounced as a palatal nasal [ɲ]. This was not the case in Dalmatian and the Eastern Romance languages where a different mutation changed the velar component to a labial consonant, changing the spelling in those languages to mn.

In English, the digraph is simply pronounced /n/ initially and finally(i.e. gnome, gnu, benign, sign). When it appears between two syllables, the /g/ is pronounced within the first syllable, while the /n/ is pronounced in the second syllable (i.e. signal).

In Norwegian, the digraph is pronounced [ŋn] in monosyllabic words like, "agn" and between two syllables, "tegne". The same spelling represents the same sound in Swedish too. Initially it is simply [gn], eg. Swedish gnista ['gnɪsta]]

[edit] See also

• GN (abbreviation)
• Ny (digraph)
• Ñ

v • d • e Latin alphabet
Digraphs	Aa aa Ae ae Ai ai Au au Aw aw Ay ay Bh bh Ch ch Ck ck Cö cö Cs cs Cu cu Cz cz Dd dd Dh dh Dj dj Dx dx Dz dz Dž dž Dź dź Dż dż Ea ea Ee ee Ei ei Eu eu Ew ew Ey ey Ff ff Fh fh Gb gb Gh gh Għ għ Gi gi Gj gj Gn gn Gy gy Hs hs Hu hu Ie ie IJ ij Jö jö Kh kh Kp kp Ku ku Lh lh Lj lj Ll ll Ly ly Mb mb Mh mh Mp mp Nd nd Ng ng Nh nh Nj nj Nk nk Ns ns Nt nt Ny ny Nz nz Oa oa Oe oe Oi oi Oo oo Ou ou Ow ow Oy oy Ph ph Qu qu Rd rd Rh rh Rl rl Rn rn Rr rr Rt rt Rz rz Sh sh Sv sv Sy sy Sz sz Th th Tj tj Tr tr Ts ts Tx tx Ty ty Tz tz Ue ue Ui ui Vh vh Wh wh Xh xh Xö xö Yh yh Yk yk Zh zh Zs zs Zv zv
Trigraphs	C'h c'h Dzs dzs Eau eau Ngb ngb Ngh ngh Ngk ngk Nkp nkp Nth nth Nyk nyk Rnd rnd Sch sch
Tetragraphs	Eeuw eeuw Ieuw ieuw Ough ough