Use of Alveolar Nasal and Palatal Nasal in Spanish and Portuguese

The palatal nasal is used in both Spanish and Portuguese. In Spanish it is the letter ñ and in Portuguese it is nh. In many varieties of Brazilian Portuguese, the palatal nasal is realized as the nasal palatal approximant. Many Spanish words with the alveolar nasal have the palatal nasal in Portuguese, and many Spanish words with the palatal nasal have the alveolar nasal in Portuguese.

Here is a list of words to illustrate the alternation:

año ano (year)

dueño dono (owner)

otoño outono (autumn)

pequeño pequeno (small)

señal sinal (signal)

camino caminho (way)

dinero dinheiro (money)

reina rainha (queen)

vecino vizinho (neighbour)

vino vinho (wine)

Spanish and Portuguese often use the alveolar nasal and the palatal nasal in the same words. This is the case with montaña/montanha (mountain) and cono/cone (cone). However, in certain cases, the palatal nasal of Spanish corresponds to the alveolar nasal in Portuguese, and in other cases the alveolar nasal of Spanish corresponds to the palatal nasal of Portuguese. The two sounds share the same manner of articulation, but they differ in their place of articulation.