Preface, I am not an expert in any way shape or form on phonetics.
Second preface, I do not know if this is the correct sub forum for this so please let me know if I should move this or post similar phonetics questions somewhere else in the future.
So I am doing Lesson 1.5 currently and am trying to label each sound that the letters make with their phonetic name and research how exactly that is articulated. I learned that GN does not really have an English equivalent I think, since it is what is called a voiced palatal nasal, this differs from the English "ng" (a voiced velar nasal) because the voiced palatal nasal is articulated with the middle or back of the tongue on the hard palate instead of the back of the tongue on the soft palate. In onion, it is similar because after the n sound we move our tongue backward to form the I sound, however, the middle of the tongue does not actually make contact with the palate. This is not my question, but I do find it interesting and relevant.
I am wondering if anyone knows whether the voiced velar nasal appears in French at all, and, if not, whether a native French speaker would use it in borrowed words, or use the closest thing they have, the voiced palatal nasal, in something like Smoking (Tuxedo).
