American English Phonetics

13.6.5 Nasalization and n-Deletion

Before all consonants other than plosives, AN /n/ tends to be elided after having nasalized the preceding vowel. As a result of this /n/-deletion, words like zonlicht, ongeluk may be [ˈzɔ̃lɪχt], [ˈɔ̃χəlʏk].

Advice for Dutch learners

Although /n/-deletion also occurs in GA (see the section on nasal deletion), it does not apply in the same contexts as the Dutch rule. In words like sunlight, unrest, unwise, the nasal is not normally elided, even though the vowel is at least partly nasalized. So try to make a firm alveolar contact for /n/ in words like:

dancing         mention           inch                 lunches

only            unrest              onwards          insensitive

moonlight       unsure             unlit                  sunshine