nasality

na·sal

N0021100 (nā′zəl)adj.1. Of, in, or relating to the nose.2. Linguistics Articulated by lowering the soft palate so that air resonates in the nasal cavities and passes out the nose, as in the pronunciation of the consonants (m), (n), and (ng) or the nasalized vowel of French bon.3. Characterized by or resembling a resonant sound produced through the nose: a nasal whine.n.1. Linguistics A nasal consonant.2. A nasal part or bone, forming part of the bridge of the nose.3. The nosepiece of a helmet.

[Possibly from Middle English nasale, from Medieval Latin nāsālis, from Latin nāsus, nose; see nas- in Indo-European roots.]

na·sal′i·ty (nā-zăl′ĭ-tē) n.na′sal·ly adv.

Thesaurus

Noun

nasality - a quality of the voice that is produced by nasal resonatorstimbre, tone, quality, timber - (music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound); "the timbre of her soprano was rich and lovely"; "the muffled tones of the broken bell summoned them to meet"nasal twang, twang - exaggerated nasality in speech (as in some regional dialects)

Translations

Nasality

a shade of the voice and a distorted pronunciation of the sounds of speech caused by the peculiarities of the sound-forming stream of air as it passes through the nasal and oral cavities. There are open and closed forms of nasality.

Open nasality is observed in cases of defects of the hard palate and defects and paralysis of the soft palate when a significant part of the air passes into the nose during the pronunciation of the sounds of speech—the voice acquires a severe nasal shade, and speech becomes inarticulate. Closed nasality arises as a consequence of the difficult passage of air through the nose as a result of chronic cold, adenoids, or polypi in the nose; this especially disrupts the pronunciation of the nasal sounds [m] and [n]—they sound like [b] and [d], and the voice becomes muted. Sometimes nasality is caused not by an anatomical problem but by a habit of incorrectly pronouncing words, in particular as a result of deafness and consequent inability to aurally check the speech. Nasality can be eliminated by special logopedic exercises. If anatomical problems are present, preparatory treatment, sometimes surgery, is conducted.

L. V. NEIMAN

nasality

na·sal

Nasality

Nasality

nasality

Words related to nasality

noun a quality of the voice that is produced by nasal resonators

Related Words