Why is「ん」the only kana without a vowel?


I've always wondered why「ん」is the only kana without having a vowel sound
attached to it. The only thing I've ever heard is that 「ん」 is a special kana
that can be the last kana in some words.

I've also heard something about a discrepancy between ん and む regarding 変体仮名.
Does this factor into the reason at all?




Japanese only allows gemination and nasal as the coda of a syllable. The two
kanas っ and ん correspond to them, and are the kanas without a vowel. Also,
when a kana is followed by a glide such as in ゃ, ゅ, or ょ, it loses the vowel.
For example, In きゃ, き only represents k, not ki.

In general, languages disfavor coda, and nasal is among the sounds that can
easily become a coda because the mouth is closed. For example, Chinese and
Korean also allow a limited variety of coda, among which are nasal sounds.

In Classic Japanese, the vowel u in mu often dropped.

> 風吹かむとす → 風吹かんとす




Japanese only allows gemination and nasal as the coda of a syllable. The two
kanas っ and ん correspond to them, and are the kanas without a vowel. Also,
when a kana is followed by a glide such as in ゃ, ゅ, or ょ, it loses the vowel.
For example, In きゃ, き only represents k, not ki.

In general, languages disfavor coda, and nasal is among the sounds that can
easily become a coda because the mouth is closed. For example, Chinese and
Korean also allow a limited variety of coda, among which are nasal sounds.

In Classic Japanese, the vowel u in mu often dropped.

> 風吹かむとす → 風吹かんとす

