ng nasal

Core Rule

ng = the nasal sound /ŋ/, a voiced velar nasal. When n + g appear together, especially at the end of a syllable or word, they usually form a single sound /ŋ/, not a separate /n/ plus /g/.

Articulation Guide

Raise the back of the tongue to touch the soft palate, fully blocking oral airflow. Keep the lips relaxed. The vocal cords vibrate, and the air exits through the nose. The key feature is nasal resonance without an oral release.

Word Analysis

In strangle /ˈstræŋɡl/, the ng produces /ŋ/. The tongue stays high at the velum, then transitions smoothly into the following /ɡl/. Importantly, /ŋ/ is not a sequence of /n/ and /g/, but a single, stable nasal sound.

Pitfall Prevention

Avoid pronouncing ng as /nɡ/ with a strong stop. In words like sing, long, bring, the /g/ is silent. Only in certain forms such as finger or angry does a light /g/ reappear due to morphological structure.