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It is not only important, but, in a degree necessary, that the people of this country, should have an American Dictionary of the English language; for, although the body of the language is the same as in England, and it is desirable to perpetuate that sameness, yet some differences must exist. Language is the expression of ideas; and if the people of one country cannot preserve an identity of ideas, they cannot retain an identity of language. |
N is the fourteenth letter of the English Alphabet, and an articulation formed by placing the end of the tongue against the root of the upper teeth. It is an imperfect mute or semi-vowel, and a nasal letter; the articulation being accompanied with a sound through the nose. It has one sound only, and after m is silent or nearly so, as in hymn and condemn. N, among the ancients, was a numeral letter signifying 900, and with a stroke over it, 9000. Among the lawyers, N. L. stood for non liquet, the case is not clear. In commerce, No. Is an abbreviation of the French nombre, and stands for number. N.S. stands for New Style.
the fourteenth letter of English
alphabet, is a vocal consonent, and, in allusion to its mode of
formation, is called the dentinasal or linguanasal
consonent. Its commoner sound is that heard in ran,
done; but when immediately followed in the same word by the
sound of g hard or k (as in single, sink,
conquer), it usually represents the same sound as the digraph
ng in sing, bring, etc. This is a simple but
related sound, and is called the gutturo-nasal consonent. See
Guide to Pronunciation, §§ 243-246.
The letter N came into English through the Latin and Greek from the Phœnician, which probably derived it from the Egyptian as the ultimate origin. It is etymologically most closely related to M. See M. A measure of
space equal to half an M (or em); an en.
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