Undoped and Eu-doped MAl2-xSixO4-xNx (M=Ca, Sr, Ba) were synthesized by a solid-state reaction method at 1300-1400 degrees C under nitrogen-hydrogen atmosphere. The solubility of (SiN)(+) in MAl2O4 was determined. Nitrogen can be incorporated into MAl2O4 by replacement of (AlO)(+) by (SiN)(+), whose amount of solubility depends on the M cation. The solubility of (SiN)(+) is very low in CaAl2O4 and SrAl2O4 lattices (x approximate to 0.025 and 0.045, respectively), whereas a large amount of (SiN)(+) can be incorporated into BaAl2O4 (x approximate to 0.6). Incorporation of (SiN)(+) hardly modifies the luminescence properties of Eu2+-doped MAl2O4 (M=Ca, Sr) because of limited solubility of (SiN)(+), showing the blue and green emission at almost constant wavelength of 440 and 515 nm, respectively. Eu2+-doped BaAl2-xSixO4-xNx exhibits a broad green emission band with a maximum in the range of 500-526 nm, depending on the concentration of (SiN)(+) and Eu2+. In addition, both excitation and emission bands of Eu2+ show a significant red shift as nitrogen is incorporated. BaAl2-xSixO4-xNx:Eu2+ can be efficiently excited in the range of 390-440 nm radiation, which makes this material attractive as conversion phosphor for white light-emitting diode (LED) lighting applications.