Definition

1. Verb:
   • To pronounce a sound with air flowing through the nose: This is the primary meaning, referring to the articulation of a speech sound (typically a vowel or a consonant like /m/, /n/, /ŋ/) by lowering the soft palate (velum), allowing air to escape through the nasal cavity.
   • To speak in a nasal manner: This describes a broader speaking style or accent characterized by excessive or habitual nasal resonance.

Examples of Usage

• Verb:
  • Some languages, like French and Portuguese, require speakers to nasalize certain vowels.
  • When you have a cold, you tend to nasalize your speech because your nasal passages are blocked.
  • The phonetician asked the student to nasalize the vowel sound for the exercise.

Advanced Usage

• Linguistic Context: In phonetics, "nasalize" is a technical term for a specific articulatory process. A sound that is nasalized is often marked with a tilde diacritic (e.g., [ã]).
  • The phoneme /ɑ/ becomes nasalized [ɑ̃] before a nasal consonant in many English dialects.

Variants and Related Words

• Nasalization (noun): The act or process of nasalizing; the quality of being nasal.
  • The nasalization of vowels is a distinctive feature of that language.
• Nasal (adjective): Of or pertaining to the nose; characterized by or produced through the nose.
  • The sounds /m/ and /n/ are nasal consonants.
• Denasalize (verb): The opposite process; to remove nasal quality from a sound.
  • After his surgery, he had to learn to denasalize his speech.

Synonyms

• Speak nasally: To talk with a nasal tone or quality.
• Twang (informal, often for a specific nasal quality): To speak with a sharp, nasal sound.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

(This word does not commonly form phrasal verbs.)

Related Idioms

(This word is technical and is not typically used in idioms.)

Verb

1. pronounce with a lowered velum
   • She nasalizes all her vowels
2. speak nasally or through the nose
   • In this part of the country, people tend to nasalize