In this video, we’ll focus on the place of articulation of the three nasals sounds in English.

Nasals are also called nasal occlusives’ or ‘nasal stops’. When we form nasal sounds, the air escapes not through the mouth but through the nose.

You can do a little test here and form a /m/ sound and then pinch your nose: the sound will stop! Whilst all nasals share the same manner of articulation, they have different places of articulation. 

In total, we have 3 nasals in English and all of them are voiced. Although they are very different to plosive sounds, there is a common connection: their place of articulation.

Nasal #1: /m/ Voiced Bilabial Nasal

We have the bilabial nasal /m/. There are also 2 plosives that are formed with both lips closed (/p/ & /t/). Example words are containing /m/, ‘mother’, ‘tomorrow’ and ‘come’.

Nasal #2: /n/ Voiced Alveolar Nasal

Then we have /n/, a voiced alveolar nasal. And again, there are two plosives that are alveolar as well (/t/ & /d/). Example words are containing /n/, ‘no’, ‘window’ and ‘phone’.

Nasal #3: /ŋ/ Voiced Velar Nasal

Last but not least, we have a velar nasal /ŋ/ and – again – two velar plosives (/k/ & /g/). Example words are containing /ŋ/, ‘sing‘ or ‘English’. Here, the letters ‘ng’ form the sound /ŋ/. But we can also find it in the word ‘think’ where the sound is simply represented by the letter ‘n’.

So, the place of articulation is not new, but the way the sounds are formed (= the manner of articulation) is obviously very different between nasals and plosives.

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