septalike

Septalike is a term used in the field of linguistics to describe a sound that is similar to a nasal consonant, particularly the velar nasal consonant /ŋ/. The term is often used in the context of phonetic transcription to indicate that a sound is produced with a similar manner of articulation to a nasal consonant, but may not be a nasal consonant itself. For example, in some languages, a sound may be produced with a velar closure, but without the accompanying nasal airflow, resulting in a sound that is septalike but not nasal. This can occur in languages that have a contrast between nasal and oral consonants, but where the nasal consonants are not produced with the same degree of nasal airflow as in English, for instance. The term septalike is not widely used in all linguistic literature, and its usage may vary depending on the specific linguistic context and the phonetic theory being applied.