Ñ
 | The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. |
Ñ (lower case ñ) is a letter of the modern Roman alphabet formed by an N with a diacritical tilde. It is most famously used in Spanish alphabet, where it represents a palatal nasal (IPA: [ɲ]), reminiscent of /nj/ as in "onion" IPA: [ˈʌnjən]. Unlike other uses of diacritics by alphabets which contain this symbol (such as ü in Astur-Leonese or â in Tagalog), in Spanish Ñ is considered a letter in its own right, with its own name (eñe) and its own place in the alphabet (after N).
The letter Ñ
Historically, ñ represented a double N, "nn": the tilde over the n was shorthand for the second n, one written over the other, as in the Portuguese nasal vowels. For example, the Spanish word año (year) is derived from Latin ANNVS.
In Spanish and some other languages (for example Aragonese, Asturian, Aymara, Quechua, Guaraní, Tagalog, Basque, Galician) whose orthographies were created under Spanish influence, it also represents the palatal nasal. Ñ is also used in Crimean Tatar alphabet for ng sound and when writing the Tatar language in Latin script. Ñ is also used in the Breton language where it nasalises the preceding vowel as in Jañ /ʒã/ which corresponds to the French name Jean and bears the same pronunciation. It may also roughly be represented or pronounced as ny, e.g. piñata → pinyata. Other Romance languages have this sound as well, expressed by nh in Portuguese and Occitan, ny in Catalan, and gn in Italian (lasagna) and French (cognac).
It is used in a number of English words of Spanish origin, such as jalapeño, Piña Colada, and El Niño. The Spanish word cañón, however, became the English word canyon. Until the middle of the 20th century, nn was more common in English, as in the "Battle of Corunna".
Cultural significance
The letter Ñ has come to represent the identity of the Spanish language. Newsweek labeled Hispanic culture and its influence on the US as "Generation Ñ." Organisations like The Instituto Cervantes and The National Association of Hispanic Journalists have adopted the letter as its mark for Hispanic heritage.
In 1991 the European Union attempted to commercialize keyboards in Spain (España) without the letter ñ. There was a regulation that prevented the commercialising of computer products that didn't support all the graphic elements of Spanish characters. The Real Academia Española stated that the matter was a serious attack against the language. Nobel Prize winner in literature, Gabriel García Márquez expressed his disdain over the offensive elimination of the eñe by saying, translation: "The Ñ is not an archæological antique, but all the opposite: a cultural jump of a Romance language that left the others behind in expressing with only one letter a sound that other languages continue to express with two." [1]
Among other forms of controversy are those pertaining to the anglicizing of Spanish surnames. Such personal decisions can be perceived by the Spanish community as denying identity and heritage. The replacement of the letter ñ with another letter alters the pronunciation and meaning of a word or name, in the same manner as replacing any letter with a different one would. Peña is a common Spanish surname that is often anglicised into Pena, which changes the name into the Spanish word for "embarrassment" and "sorrow." In the Philippines, where use of the Ñ is widespread in names of people and places, pronouncing the letter as if it were merely an N signifies pretentiousness (rather than just plain ignorance) on the part of the speaker, particularly if that speaker is considerably well educated.
Computer usage
In HTML character entity reference the codes are Ñ and ñ; or Ñ and ñ.
On the Apple Macintosh operating system it can be typed by pressing the [Option] key then typing n followed by either N or n.
To make a lowercase ñ on the Microsoft Windows operating system, hold down the ALT key and press the numbers 0241 or 164 on the numeric keypad with Num Lock ON. To make an uppercase Ñ, press ALT + 165 or 0209.
Another option is to configure the system to use the US-International keyboard layout, where the ñ can be produced either by Alt Gr + N, or by typing the tilde (~) followed by the letter n.