Pronunciation of the Japanese ん and nasalized vowels

Question

I've been trying to grasp how ん sounds when placed after a vowel. Apparently the vowel becomes nasalized (and extended?) but does it get rid of the n sound completely then?

If so wouldn't ほん have its n sound taken off as well? But from what recordings I've been listening to I swear the ん is making a n sound.

Answer 1

The situation you describe (nasalization + lengthening + ん deletion, [Ṽː]) only really happens when ん is followed by another vowel, to distinguish it from [V.nV] situations. Otherwise, your intuition/ears are correct, and ん does not disappear.

Some examples:

範囲(はんい) → /hɑ̃ːi/

ハニー → /ha.niː/

雰囲気(ふんいき) → /fũːiki/

国（くに）→ /ku.ni/

本意（ほんい）→ /hõːi/

本人（ほんにん）→ /hon.nin/

Answer 2

It depends on what comes after the ん, as well as the speaker, their gender, and the regional dialect.

In many cases it is like a straight English "n" sound, such as in そんな, パンダ, パンですよ, etc. (As well as "ng" before が, ぎ, ぐ, げ, or ご, just as in English: シンガー for instance)

In the case of ん ending a sentence or utterance, it will often take on the so-called nasalized "n" sound where your tongue reaches toward the spot behind your upper teeth but doesn't make firm contact (especially in Tokyo dialect) or sometimes just the English "n" sound (and some female speakers will even give it an "m"-like sound).

Answer 3

EDITED to add pronunciation clarification.

The ん sounds makes a heavy nn sound, so ほん would definitely sound like honn. Any time a ん appears the nn sound is emphasised.

For example.

• お盆{おぼん} - oboNN - Japanese Buddhist custom to honour the spirits of one's ancestors
• そんなに - soNnani - so much, like that, so, etc.
• どんな - doNna - what, what kind of etc.
• 変{へん} - hen - Strange, odd, weird
  • not as strongly pronounced "n", pronounced similar to the female chicken.
• うん - uNN - yes
• うんん - uNNNN - no *The difference here can be ambiguous when spoken by some people but is generally pronounced by an elongated nn sound somewhat similar to a long hmmm sound in English.

EDIT

ん is pronounced by sticking your tongue on the bridge between your teeth and the roof of your mouth similar to the way you pronounce the English n.

It doesn't usually get an ng sound (of which is usually transcribed to a ngu sound - something which ん would not produce without a following ぐ). Although I have described it in some instances as a double n (as one would normally input it into a computer) it makes a sound similar to two English n sounds together.

As you asked in your question, an ん after a vowel does not remove the n "noise" and the recordings you are listening to, probably are making a pronounced "nn" sound.