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I'm curious what the relationship is between む and ん. I have the feeling that
sometimes, む is pronounced more like ん:

  * むむむ: is this really /mumumu/? Or does it become /mmm/?
  * うむむ: is this really /umumu/? Or does it become /umm/?

I've spent more time reading than listening, and I'm not sure where I picked
this idea up. I did see [on Wikipedia](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%80)
that ん was formerly written む. Unfortunately, the article doesn't say anything
about the two being related in _modern_ Japanese.

I'm also aware of
[うむ](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%86%E3%82%80&dtype=0&dname=0ss&stype=0&pagenum=1&index=101740500000),
which is apparently an older version of うん. Perhaps this is an example of
something similar?

Here is an example context for むむむ, in which I suspect it is not actually
pronounced /mumumu/:

![Video game dialogue.  It says
「むむむ・・・ど、どうしてもと言うのなら、よかろう！」](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Jq2fV.png)
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-04-02T15:19:44.047
11613
2013-04-02T17:52:33.150
question
pronunciation
Is む sometimes pronounced more like ん?
むむむ is actually just a grunt. It is not read mumumu, literally.

but phonetically, it does sound more of an "n" sound than an "m" sound, but
grunting in the "m" sound exagerates the line theatrically and has the effect
of making it sound comical, less serious, or over the top.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-04-02T17:52:33.150
11614
2013-04-02T17:52:33.150
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answer