For the next lesson, we’ll be discussing the NG-sound /ŋ /. This sound is a voiced velar nasal.

The NG-sound is an interesting sound because it is NOT the same as saying the N-sound and then the G-sound.

The word ‘KING’ is NOT the combination of ‘KIN’ + ‘G’. It’s a little bit of an in-between.

THE SOUND

The NG-sound is produced through the escape of air from the nose instead of the mouth, hence the nasal property. So, one of the key things to pay attention to is that air is not escaping through the mouth. It is a velar sound meaning the tongue position is the same as for the K-sound and G-sound. This sound is further back in the mouth where body of the tongue contacts the soft palate - not in teh front of the roof of the mouth where the alveolar ridge is.

Unlike the K-sound or G-sound, where you push air out of your mouth, squeeze the air between the body of your tongue and the inner roof of your mouth , the air is instead allowed to escape up through the nasal cavity and out of the nostrils. You should feel some resistance in the nose.

For the NG-sound /ŋ/, the sound is voiced(the vocal cords vibrate while producing it).

Verbal cues

Exaggerate your /NG/ sound at first. Because it is a nasal sound, the /N/ is a continuous consonant and can be held for several seconds. Try holding the N-sound for 5 seconds.

HUNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGG HUNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGG HNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGG

Remember that the tongue pressure should be light against the roof of your mouth. Harsh pressure is not needed and not helpful.

Visual Cues

Remember to keep the tongue tip position behind the teeth. If you look at a mirror, the tongue should be kept hidden behind the teeth and should not be visible in your reflection.

Because the N-sound is a nasal sound, you should be able to visually see a tissue move in the air if you hold it near your nose. This visual cue can show you whether air is moving through your nose or not.

Tactile Cues

If you need help finding the velum for your tongue to contact during this sound, focus on how and where you make the K- or G-sound. This is the spot your tongue needs to contact the roof of the mouth.

Notice how it is not the tongue tip that is involved. You can even make the K-sound while your tongue tip rubs against the teeth.

If you need tactile cues to ensure you are directing air through the nose, you should be able to feel a subtle vibration at your nostrils.

THE SOUND IN DIFFERENT POSITIONS.

Here's the sound in different positions of a word.

BEGINNING OF THE WORD -

MIDDLE OF THE WORD - anger*, anguish*, banging, England*, finger*, jungle*

END OF THE WORD - bang, song, tongue, wrong, climbing

Notice how there are no true English words that begin with the NG-sound. The NG-sound does not exist natively in English.

*Also note that in these words, the NG-letter combination represents a NG-sound + G-sound. For example, ‘ANGER’ is “AH-NG-G-ER” not just “AH-NG-ER”

SITUATIONS THAT SEEM LIKE THE SOUND BUT AREN'T

change - Although the NG-letter combination is one visual trick to expect the NG-sound, it is not always reflective of an NG-sound. In the case of ‘CHANGE’, the actual sounds you produce are “TCH-AYE-N-DZH”
angel - Although the NG-letter combination is present, in teh case of ‘ANGEL’, the actual sounds you produce are “AYE-N-DZH-E-L”. There is no NG-sound.

There are many NG-letter combinations that will not represent a NG-sound. There are also many NG-letter combinations that will also represent a NG-sound. The main thing to know is you will need to detect and remember for yourself how to pronounce those specific words.

WHY IT MAY BE HARD

It can be hard to first learn the NG-sound placement. Especially for words with multiple NG-sounds such as ‘singing’. Once you learn the placement, it can be easy to pronounce the correct sound once, but twice is a harder thing to do with regularity. You might say ‘sinning’ or ‘singin’.

WHAT TO DO

Practice. This is a muscle memory problem that requires time and effort to learning. You can start slow, practice, and incorporate the word intentionally into your speech to gain confidence and comfort. The biggest issue is when you rush.

So let's say you do have trouble with your NG-sound. What can you do about it.

Well here are the features of the NG-sound.

Place of articulation - Between your tongue body and the velum. Your tongue should lightly contact the velum.
Manner of articulation - nasal (air is allowed to escape through the nose and if you concentrate, you may feel this airflow through the nostrils)
Voiced or unvoiced - voiced (this means the vocal cords vibrate while producing the N-sound)

The vocal cords vibrate so when you feel your neck while you make the NG-sound, it will buzz.

TIPS & EXTRA CONSIDERATIONS

If it is hard to produce the sound in speech, try building the skill from humming first.

NNNNNNGGGGGG

Similar to the humming warm-up exercise for the M-sound, you can build on the hum and transform it into an NNNNNNGGGGGG sound.

HHNNNNNNGGGGGG

Then, build on that sound for words. In English, the easiest words will have the NG-sound at the end of the word.

King = kiNNNNNNGGGGGG

Ring = riNNNNNNGGGGGG

Sing = siNNNNNNGGGGGG

Wing = wiNNNNNNGGGGGG

Once you are comfortable with the word, try these more challenging ones.

Singing, Drinking, Blinking, Jinxing, Winging,

I’m breaking down every single sound down for you so that you can learn how to produce each sound in English accurately. Sometimes, we’ll have easier sounds and sometimes we’ll have harder sounds.

If you’ve grasped this sound, then great! But if you’ve got a tip that might work for others, or you took a while to produce this sound correct but something clicked for you, let me know down below in the comments. My goal is to have a community know what to do when they’re stuck!

The NG-Sound