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For my phonology homework, we're given the nasals [n] [m] [η] and nasalized glides [w] and [j]. From the data, I've found that [n] and [m] are phonemes and [η] is an allophone of /n/. What I can't figure out is where the nasal glides fit in. They appear w̃ and ȷ̃.

The exact question is this:

fron the pdf with the question

source (section 3 on page 67)

blutorange
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user4826
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    Look at the data. What phonetic contexts do w̃ and ȷ̃ appear in? They only appear before w and j, right? What does that tell you? –  Mar 05 '14 at 04:31

1 Answers1

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To summarize, the nasalized glides w̃ and ȷ̃ are cases where ん or N (the Japanese syllable-final moraic nasal sound/uvular nasal) comes before /w/ and /j/ approximants, or in other words, the w or y-sounds. Observe these: (koNya with ȷ̃) こんや, (yaNwari with w̃) やんわり, (kaNyo with ȷ̃)　かんよ.

In general, where the ん or N comes before /j/ and /w/, the N nasalizes stuff. This answer's pretty simple though. Please add on or correct as needed!

quarks3141
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