Pronunciation of the Japanese ん and nasalized vowels


I've been trying to grasp how ん sounds when placed after a vowel. Apparently
the vowel becomes nasalized (and extended?) but does it get rid of the `n`
sound completely then?

If so wouldn't ほん have its `n` sound taken off as well? But from what
recordings I've been listening to I swear the ん is making a `n` sound.




The situation you describe (nasalization + lengthening + ん deletion, [Ṽː])
only really happens when ん is followed by another vowel, to distinguish it
from [V.nV] situations. Otherwise, your intuition/ears are correct, and ん does
not disappear.

Some examples:

範囲(はんい) → /hɑ̃ːi/

ハニー → /ha.niː/

雰囲気(ふんいき) → /fũːiki/

国（くに）→ /ku.ni/

本意（ほんい）→ /hõːi/

本人（ほんにん）→ /hon.nin/

