Ñ

The ñ (capital Ñ, name eñe, plural eñes) is the fifteenth letter and the twelfth consonant of the Spanish alphabet where it represents a palatal nasal consonant.

The ñ is also present in the alphabets of other languages historically related to Spanish such as Asturian, Galician, Aymara, Bubi, Chamorro, Gacería, Guaraní, Papiamento, Quechua or Filipino and for convenience in some that are not, such as Spanish Crimean Tatar, Wolof, Breton, Mapudungun or some Australian Aboriginal languages and many other languages on all continents. Sometimes it takes the form of Nn.

History

Funeral shield of 1589 found in the Frauenkirche de Esslingen (Germany). In the dedication you can see "Aш" instead of ANNO and "AN.OS" instead of ANNOS.

In monasteries and later in printers it was customary to save letters by abbreviating to save effort in the tasks of copying and placing characters. Thus, the sequence from the Latin geminate "nn" was written with a small tilde above the ene: "ñ"; such a tilde or tilde (~) represented a small and "flattened" cursively. The same thing happened in Portuguese with «an» and «ã»; p. eg, annus > years; and the romance group nn > ñ that had become palatalized over time in the Iberian Peninsula.

Proto-Semitic N	Fellowship N	Greek Ni	Etrusco N	Latin N	Spanish Ñ

Use

The ñ in Spanish represents a palatal nasal sound (according to the International Phonetic Alphabet, /ɲ/), which means that air escapes through the nose and is articulated with the middle or back part of the tongue against the palate osseous.

In Spanish and other languages (such as the Philippine languages, Aymara, Quechua, Mapuche, Mixtec, Zapotec, Guarani, Basque, Chamorro, Bubi, Leonese, and Yavapai) whose orthographies are based on that of Spanish, it represents the palatal nasal. In Galician it represents that sound.

In Tagalog, Visayan, and other Philippine languages, most terms that included ñ became ny with the US occupation of the Philippines, in an effort to United States for the dehispanicization of the archipelago. Even so, it survived in many proper names, which usually retain the ñ and its original Spanish spelling (such as Santo Niño, Parañaque, Mañalac , Malacañán) and although rarely used, it is present as the fifteenth letter in the Philippine alphabet. In old Philippine orthography, the letter was also used, along with g, to represent the velar nasal sound [ŋ] (except word-finally, when ng would be used) if appropriate in place of a tilde, which originally encompassed the sequence of n and g (n͠g), as pan͠galan ("name"). This is because the old spelling was based on Spanish, and without the tilde, pangalan would have been pronounced with the sequence [ŋɡ] (hence, pang-GAlan). The form ñg se became a more common way of representing n͠g until the early part of the XX, mainly because it was more widely available in typefaces than the tilde spanning both letters.

The 1540 Coronado expedition exploring the Grand Canyon.

It also appears in several English terms of Spanish origin, such as jalapeño, piña colada, piñata, and El Niño i>. The Spanish word canyon, however, became naturalized as canyon, so the Grand Canyon of the Colorado is written as Grand Canyon. Until the middle of the XX century, adapting it as nn was more common in English, as in the phrase "Battle of Corunna". Now, it is almost always left unchanged. The Society for the Advancement of Spanish Letters in the Anglo Americas (SASLAA) is a pre-eminent organization focused on promoting the permanent adoption of ñ in the English language.

Non-Hispanic usage

It is also used in other writing systems of languages uninfluenced by Spanish to represent nasal sounds. This is due to the coincidence that during the creation of their orthographies, they needed a sign similar to N and since Ñ was similar it became a very convenient option since it was widely implemented, so they added it not so much for its meaning but by its graphic form.

Some of these languages use it to represent the nasal velar, such as Crimean Tatar, Malay, and Nauruan. Precisely in the modern version of the yañalif (or yaꞑalif) alphabet of the Tatar language and in the Lule Sami language, the ñ a is sometimes used as a substitute for n with a descender (Ꞑ), which is not available in many computer systems.

In the case of many Senegalese languages, for example the Wolof language, ñ is used as in English for the palatal nasal sound. Senegal is unique among West African countries in its use of this letter. In the Tetun language of East Timor, it was also adopted to represent the same sound in Portuguese loanwords represented by nh, although this is also used in Tetum, as is ny, influenced by Indonesian, avoiding confusion with the digraph.

In the Breton language (northwestern France) nasalize the preceding vowel, as in Jañ ( /ʒã/), which corresponds to the French name Jean and has the same pronunciation. As recently as 2008, the French government began allowing the registration of names with this letter.

In Nauruan it represents the digraph «ng», although currently the majority tendency is to use simply «ng». Many Portuguese speakers use it to represent the word não in informal Internet language.

Also used in the transliteration of the palatal nasal of Sanskrit and other languages written using Indic alphabets.

As a cultural symbol

The posts of the professors of the Royal Spanish Academy are numbered with letters of the abecedary, the chair ñ la occupa Luis María Ansón.

The bomber of the Spanish Air Force Potez 540 using the letter Ñ.

The letter eñe has become a frequent symbol to represent the identity of the Spanish language. Latino editor Bill Teck labeled Hispanic culture and its influence in the United States as the "Generation Ñ" and started a magazine by that name. Organizations such as the Instituto Cervantes and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists have adopted the letter as their mark of Hispanic heritage.

It was used in the Air Force of the Spanish Republic for aircraft identification. The circumstances surrounding the accident of the serial plane 'Ñ' Potez 540 that was shot down over the Sierra de Gúdar of the Iberian System near Valdelinares inspired the French writer André Malraux to write the novel L'Espoir (1937), translated into English as Man& #39;s Hope and turned into a film called Espoir: Sierra de Teruel.

In 1991, a European Community report recommended the repeal of a regulation that prevented the sale in Spain of computer products that did not support "all the characteristics of the Spanish writing system", alleging that it was of a protectionist measure against the principles of the free market. This would have allowed keyboard layouts without a "Ñ" key. The Royal Spanish Academy affirmed that it was a serious attack against the language. Nobel laureate for literature Gabriel García Márquez expressed his disdain for the removal petition, saying: "La 'Ñ' It is not archaeological rubbish, quite the opposite: a cultural leap from a Romance language that left the others behind by expressing itself with only one letter is a sound that other languages continue to express with two ".

Other forms of controversy are related to the Anglicization of Spanish surnames. Replacing ñ with another letter alters the pronunciation and meaning of a word or name, just as you would replace any letter of a given word with another. For example, a common Spanish surname such as Peña (meaning "rocky hill") is sometimes edited in English publications and turned into Pena ("pity" 34;). Another common example is "Nuñez".

When Federico Peña first ran for mayor of Denver in 1983, the Denver Post printed his name without an accent as "Pena". Only after he won the election did they start printing his name with a tilde. Because Peña's administration was met with much criticism, his objections were sometimes whimsically phrased as "ÑO."

Since 2011, the news channel "CNN en Español" incorporates in its logo a tilde over the two N's.

As part of the day of jokes in April 2013, Puerto Rican linguistics professor Aida Vergne wrote a newspaper article stating that the Royal Spanish Academy had chosen to eliminate the ñ from the Spanish language, rather than being replaced by the original Old Spanish nn. As the Academy had previously removed letters such as ch and ll, such an accusation was taken seriously and occasionally the Academy has to resort to denying and clarifying the accusation.

Another news channel, TLN en Español, also used to use "tlñ", with an ñ instead of the expected n of its English Version.

Equivalent spellings in other languages

Arriate de la letra «ñ» en Logroño (Spain)

Currently the letter «ñ» is used as a letter of the Spanish, Asturian, Galician, Filipino, Wolof alphabet, as well as a good number of indigenous languages of America (Quechua, Aymara, Otomí, Guarani, among others).

In other languages, the double "n" has given rise to different spellings:

• ny en oromo, aragonés, valón, catalán, ewe, gã, ganda, hmong, indonesio, ladino, lingala, malayo, quenya, sesotho, swahili, zhuang and Zulu.
• gn en francés, bretón, valón, jèrriais, italiano, corso, sardo, genovés, piamontés, lombardo, veneciano, friulano, latin y siciliano.
• nh occitan, mirandés, Portuguese and Vietnamese.
• nj en neerlandés, serbocroata, feroés, frisio, arumano, cimbrio, finés, islandés y albanés.
• in Czech, Slovak and Roma.
• ń in Polish, where, in addition, the "ni" digit has identical value (the same happens in vascuence, where apart from the ñ, in some dialects it is not read as a ñ).
• in Latvian.
• ne/ni/en/in, ng (at the beginning of the word when it is palated) in Gaelic.
• nn in Leon, possible solution in ñ at the beginning of the word (ñube nnube).
• nn in Scottish gaelic when pronounced palatalized.
• in euskera, although Ñ is used in own names (Iruña, Añorga, etc.) and in principle of word (ñika, ñabardura).
• . in bambara.
• n in gagauz before ä, e, i, ö and u.
• ». in Japanese (hiragana), although its sound is not identical, it is borrowed for a better pronunciation since the sound "ñ" does not exist in Japanese, example................. ». in Japanese (hiragana), although its sound is not identical.
• in Ukrainian, Russian and Bulgarian.
• in serbocroata (cyclical).
• . in Tamil.
• I was in Greek.
• . en ge'ez, amhárico, tigriña, tigré, harari, blin y me'en, entre otros lenguas que utiliza el sistema descript etíope.
• . en hindi, maratí, entre otros lenguas que utiliza el devanagari.

Digital encoding

Use on the Internet

Currently you can register domains with the letter "ñ".

• In Chile, from September 21, 2005, at 11 a.m., it is possible to register domains.cl containing the lyric eñe, vowels with tilds and diéresis.
• In Spain, from 2 October 2007 to 6 in the morning, the eñe along with the tilds or the diéresis can be part of the name of a domain.es. With this initiative Red.es, entity of the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce, which has assigned in Spain the authority of registration of domains, complied with the measure contemplated by the Law on Measures of Impulse of the Information Society.
• In Argentina, as of September 2008, by resolution 616/08, you can register sites that carry in the domain the lyrics eñe, tilde or diéresis, characteristic of the Spanish language.

The most important search engines and email services are capable of indexing domains with special characters, and therefore, the letter eñe. The IDN Committee is the main international entity that manages IDN Domains (also called Multilingual Domains) promotes the use of domains with special characters, but there are still many efforts to overcome the technical problems that systems with letters like Ñ have. However, there are some advantages to using domain names with the letter ñ.

Use on computers

The eñe is located on the right of the ele on the QWERTY keyboards for Spanish.

In HTML characters it is expressed with the codes Ñ (Ñ) and &ño (ñ).

For systems in which there is no keyboard in Spanish, the following is done:

• In many systems you can get by pressing ~ and then n. (~) + (n) = (ñ)
• In computers with Apple operating system you can write by pressing [Option]-n and then clicking N or n.
• In operating systems with Microsoft Windows you can write miniscule stick pressed ALT + 0241 (or 164) having the BloqNum activated. For the capital figure: ALT + 0209 (or 165).
• In Linux/BSD systems with Gnome/GTK applications you can write the eñe using its Unicode, pressing Mayus + CTRL + u and then write the F 1 code followed by the Enter key. The code for the capital eñe is D 1. For this you have to have the Bloq mayus disabled.
• In systems that have a key Compose (composition) can be written using the sequence Compose ♪
• On computers with AmigaOS operating system or derivatives (MorphOS, AROS, etc.) you can type by pressing the keyAmiga Derecha + J and later entering N or n.
• Another option is to configure the international-US keyboard (US-International), where the dream occurs by the sequence ALT GR + n, or typing the character (~) followed by the letter n. For the capital Ñ is achieved with the sequence ALT GR + Mayus + n, o (~) followed Mayus n.
• In the Word program, if the Unicode is used, the hexadecimal number for ñ is: 00f1 or 00F1. Enter either of these two four-character groups, and with the cursor immediately to the right of number 1, press the keys ALT + X. To get the letter Ñ the hexadecimal number is 00d1 or 00D1. Inverse sense, if you have a ñ, you can press – with the cursor immediately to the right of that letter – the keys ALT + X, and you'll get: 00F1. Something similar happens with Ñ, and also with any other letter from the abecedary.

Use on mobile phones

Nowadays, practically all mobile phones support the use of this character normally.

The Blackberry from Research In Motion (RIM), does not include the "ñ", but can be accessed by pressing the N and the control wheel down at the same time.

The keyboard controversy with the EU in 1991

In 1991, a conflict arose when the European Economic Community (EEC) promoted the project of some computer manufacturers, who wanted to market keyboards without a sign.

Until then, there was a regulation that prevented computer products from being marketed in Spain that did not take into account “all the characteristics of the Spanish graphic system”.

The EU considered that this provision amounted to a protectionist measure that violated the principle of free movement of goods.

The first body to react was the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE). The disappearance of the ñ from the keyboards, he proclaimed in a report released in 1991, would represent "a serious attack against the official language".

Colombian Gabriel García Márquez, 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature, stated:

It is scandalous that the EC (European Community) has dared to propose to Spain the elimination of the eñe (...) only for reasons of commercial comfort (...) The authors of such abuse and such arrogance should know that the eñe is not an archaeological ancient, but rather the opposite: a cultural leap of an Romance language that left behind the others by expressing with a single letter a sound that in other languages continues to express with two.

Gabriel García Márquez.

While the Argentinian poet María Elena Walsh, in the Buenos Aires newspaper La Nación, stated:

Let's not let ourselves take the eñe! We have already been bitten by the signs of openness of interrogation and admiration. They've already reduced us to the apocope... We remain the owners of something that belongs to us, that letter with suede, something very small, but less tin than it seems (...) The survival of this letter concerns us, without distinction of sex, creeds or software programs (...) Let us struggle not to add more wood to the bonfire where our discriminated against sign (...) The dream is people.

Maria Elena Walsh, in the newspaper La Nación.

In any case, to consolidate the protection of the letter, the Spanish government responded on April 23, 1993 with a Royal Decree that maintained the obligation of the ñe on keyboards, invoking the Maastricht Treaty, already being the Union Union (EU), which admits exceptions of a cultural nature.