eñe
/eɲe/from spelling rules
The name of the letter 'n' in Spanish is eñe.
eñe is the name of the letter Ñ, which is a distinct character in the Spanish alphabet.
How do you pronounce it?
/eɲe/
Did you know?
- In the past, the eñe was created by scribes who wrote a small n above another n to save space and parchment.
- The eñe is considered the 'most Spanish' of all letters, and there are poems and songs dedicated specifically to its sound.
- While the eñe is central to Spanish, it also appears in other languages like Galician and Filipino, though it is not used in Portuguese or Italian.
Example conversation
Mateo and Elena are studying the Spanish alphabet together.
- MateoElena, ¿esta letra es una n?Elena, is this letter an n?
- ElenaNo, Mateo, esa es una eñe.No, Mateo, that is an eñe.
- MateoAh, entiendo, tiene una línea arriba.Ah, I see, it has a line on top.
- ElenaExacto, así se distingue la eñe.Exactly, that is how you distinguish the eñe.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
