How to pronounce medial NG? (Angband, Anglachel etc) on: February 03, 2017 04:12
I have a problem deaing with medial NG sound.
Should it be [ŋ] or [ŋg]?
Tolkien said "NG represents more or less ng in finger, except finally where it was sounded as in English sing" in Appendix E.
so initial or medial NG is [ŋg] and final NG is [ŋ].
No doubt it's anga[ɑŋgɑ] because ng is medial not final.
medial NG followed by a vowel is no problem. But how about medial NG followed by a consonant?
It seems that lots of Elvish students or linguists believes ng followed by a consonant should be pronounced as [ŋ] not [ŋg] just like final ng as in Glaurung: Angband[ɑŋbɑnd], Angmar[ɑŋmɑr], Angrod [ɑŋrod], Anglachel[ɑŋlɑxel].
It may feel more natural with just [ŋ] sound to most English speakers but according to Tolkien's note in Appendix E, I think it is more likely with distinct g sound as in Grond: Angband[ɑŋgbɑnd], Angmar[ɑŋgmɑr], Angrod [ɑŋgrod], Anglachel[ɑŋglɑxel]
Is there any evidence to overthrow Tolkien's direction in Appendix E?