# Why are there so few words starting with N? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 24, 2021, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708 "2021-04-24T19:08:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/1 "2021-04-24T19:08:45Z")
Relatively, of course. A visitor from another planet, completely unfamiliar with Earth languages, would naively assume that the words of English are distributed evenly among the letters of the alphabet. Of course, in actuality, they are distributed very unevenly. But given the history of the language and alphabet and the nature of the sounds the letters represent, most of those can be explained. But I can’t figure out why N is so shortchanged. First to establish that it is shortchanged, lets compare the number of N-words with those starting with M. I can’t think of any reason M should have many more than N. The letter M in my desk dictionary takes pages 744 to 822, which is 79 pages. The letter N is from page 823 to the middle of 854, 31.5 pages. That’s more than double the amount. So why is this? ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/2 "2021-04-24T19:24:20Z")
Not sure why you’re singling out N. In my dictionary there are 9 letters which are less frequent than N as initial letters, and N is pretty close to F and G: ``` s 25162 p 24461 c 19901 a 17096 u 16387 t 12966 m 12616 b 11070 d 10896 r 9671 h 9027 i 8799 e 8736 o 7849 g 6861 f 6860 n 6780 l 6284 w 3944 v 3440 k 2281 j 1642 q 1152 z 949 y 671 x 385 ``` A more intriguing question to me is why there are so few _animal names_ that start with N. Narwhal, newt, nutria, nightingale is pretty much it, and none are very common. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/3 "2021-04-24T19:36:09Z")
Why do so many words beginning with _sn_ involve the nose? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/4 "2021-04-24T19:41:39Z")
Technically, nothing starts with _n_. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/5 "2021-04-24T19:43:48Z")
Isn’t that properly spelled gnothing or pnothing? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/6 "2021-04-24T19:46:54Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Isn’t that properly spelled gnothing or pnothing? - Kno. … ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/7 "2021-04-24T19:46:58Z")
It’s going to be a Zipf thing, I imagine. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/fCn8zs912OE/maxresdefault.jpg "The Zipf Mystery") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCn8zs912OE) ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/8 "2021-04-24T19:51:18Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > A more intriguing question to me is why there are so few _animal names_ that start with N. Narwhal, newt, nutria, nightingale is pretty much it, and none are very common. Nighthawk, nuthatch, nautilus There are also a bunch of breeds of dogs that start with N, although most or all are from placenames: Newfoundland, Norfolk terrier, Neapolitan mastiff, e.g., or Norwegian forest cat. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/9 "2021-04-24T19:55:26Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > There are also a bunch of breeds of dogs that start with N, although most or all are from placenames: Newfoundland, Norfolk terrier, Neapolitan mastiff, e.g., or Norwegian forest cat. And, of course, the ever popular Norwegian parrot. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/10 "2021-04-24T19:57:02Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > > [@slash2k](#): > > > > There are also a bunch of breeds of dogs that start with N, although most or all are from placenames: Newfoundland, Norfolk terrier, Neapolitan mastiff, e.g., or Norwegian forest cat. > > And, of course, the ever popular Norwegian parrot. - Lovely plumage if you’re talking about the blue one. ---
**Author:** ![blabbermeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9a140/32.png) [@blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/11 "2021-04-24T20:17:20Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I can’t figure out why N is so shortchanged. It is strange. N is much less common as an initial letter than as a letter in general. Also its lack of commonness seems anti-Zipf as _n_ is easier to write than _m_ (2 downstrokes instead of 3) and easier to say since your mouth doesn’t have to close all the way and open all the way. Alternative spellings of the sound like “kn”, “gn” aren’t common enough to explain its lack. Maybe the strong association of “n” with negation (no; non- and similar in other languages like _nein_, _nicht_) makes it a poor choice as an initial letter to name something and would lead to misunderstandings in communication if it were used at the beginning of a word. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/12 "2021-04-24T20:44:13Z")
Number of pages is not necessarily equal to number of words. Maybe the “m” words need longer descriptions. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/13 "2021-04-24T20:59:30Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > Number of pages is not necessarily equal to number of words. > Maybe the “m” words need longer descriptions True, it’s not a perfect relationship, but is a good first order approximation. At any rate, @markn_1 's list (thank you for that) also shows that N has about half as many as M. And that supports my question. I can understand why the other letters have roughly their word counts relative to the other letters, for reasons too numerous to list, but N stands out as being way too low. BTW, the initial letters do not follow Zipf’s Law, although the total number of letters used does. > [@blabbermeister](#): > > Maybe the strong association of “n” with negation (no; non- and similar in other languages like _nein_ , _nicht_ ) makes it a poor choice as an initial letter to name something and would lead to misunderstandings in communication if it were used at the beginning of a word. That’s a good idea. Any others? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/14 "2021-04-24T21:06:26Z")
There’s at least one less n word than there used to be > **[Home - Quick and Dirty Tips](https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/)** > > A podcast network and website to help you do things better. Money, grammar, mental health, curiosity, and more - we've got you covered. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/15 "2021-04-24T21:37:32Z")
I suspect there are a large number of initial n words not listed in the dictionary. All those non- words. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/16 "2021-04-24T21:55:05Z")
In the dictionary I used for the list I posted above, 2793 of the 6780 N words start with “non”. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/17 "2021-04-24T21:57:32Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > ```auto > s 25162 > p 24461 > c 19901 > > ``` Your dictionary doesn’t jibe with the 1970 edition of The World Book Encyclopedia I grew up with. C needed _two_ volumes! [![](https://pictures.abebooks.com/inventory/20263991412.jpg) ](https://pictures.abebooks.com/inventory/20263991412.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/18 "2021-04-24T22:03:32Z")
I think it will also depend on how we’re counting these words. I see “u” is listed perhaps surprisingly high, and that’s, I suppose, because so many more words can be made with the “un-” prefix. “P” has a lot of "pre-"s and “s” – that one doesn’t seem like it would have all that much extra added. “Semi-” perhaps. I’d be interested in also seeing a ranking based on root words without prefixes. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/19 "2021-04-24T22:37:31Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > In the dictionary I used for the list I posted above, 2793 of the 6780 N words start with “non”. Right. In my dictionary, most of the non- words are in a list with no definition or pronunciation. It takes up over a page and a half. There’s a couple similar lists in the M’s for mis- and multi-, but they’re much shorter. At any rate, that list compresses the N pages so that N looks even more shortchanged than otherwise, but it doesn’t really change my thesis. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708/20 "2021-04-24T23:02:28Z")
I’ll see your napron and raise you an ewt. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-so-few-words-starting-with-n/940708.md?page=2)