Definition

1. Noun:
   • The act of nasalizing: The process or action of making a sound nasal.
   • The utterance of sounds modulated by the nasal resonators: The production of speech sounds where air escapes through the nose, typically by lowering the soft palate (velum).

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The nasalization of vowels is a common feature in many languages, such as French and Portuguese.
  • Linguists study the degree of nasalization in different dialects.

Advanced Usage

• Phonetic Context: In phonetic transcription, nasalization is often marked with a tilde (~) placed over the vowel or other sound, as in [ã].
  • The symbol [ẽ] represents a nasalized mid-front vowel.
• Phonological Process: Nasalization can be a phonological process where a sound becomes nasal due to the influence of a neighboring nasal consonant.
  • In English, vowels often undergo nasalization before nasal consonants, as in the word "can't."

Variants and Related Words

• Nasalize (verb): To pronounce or utter with a nasal sound.
  • Some speakers nasalize their vowels more than others.
• Nasal (adjective): Of or pertaining to the nose; (in phonetics) denoting a sound produced with air flowing through the nose (e.g., /m/, /n/, /ŋ/).
  • The sounds /m/ and /n/ are nasal consonants.
• Denasalization (noun): The process of losing nasal quality in a sound.
  • Denasalization occurred in the historical development of some languages.

Synonyms

• Nasality: The quality of being nasal.
• Nasal Twang: An informal term for a noticeable nasal quality in speech.

Related Phrases

• Nasal Resonance: The amplification of sound in the nasal cavities during speech.
  • Singers learn to control nasal resonance.
• Nasal Emission: The flow of air through the nose during the production of sounds that are typically non-nasal, which can be a speech disorder.
  • The speech pathologist worked on reducing the child's nasal emission on plosive sounds.

Notes

• Nasalization is a key concept in phonetics and phonology. It is not an idiom or phrasal verb, but a technical term describing an articulatory feature of speech sounds.

Noun

1. the act of nasalizing; the utterance of sounds modulated by the nasal resonators