A nasal voice is a type of speaking voice

Voice

Voice may refer to:* Human voice* Voice control or voice activation* Writer's voice* Voice acting* Voice vote* Voice message-In film:* Voice , a 2005 South Korean film* The Voice , a 2010 Turkish horror film directed by Ümit Ünal...

 characterized by speech with a "nasal" quality to it. It can also occur naturally because of genetic variation. In vocal context, the opposite of nasal is adenoidal or denasal

Denasal

In phonetics, denasalization is the loss of nasal airflow in a nasal stop or nasal vowel. This may be due to speech pathology, but also occurs when the sinuses are blocked from a cold, in which case it is called a 'nasal voice'...

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Nasal speech can be divided into hypo-nasal or hyper-nasal.

Hyponasal speech

Hyponasal speech is a lack of appropriate nasal airflow during speech, such as when a person has nasal congestion

Nasal congestion

Nasal congestion is the blockage of the nasal passages usually due to membranes lining the nose becoming swollen from inflamed blood vessels. It is also known as nasal blockage, nasal obstruction, blocked nose, stuffy nose, or stuffed up nose.Nasal congestion has many causes and can range from a...

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Some causes of hyponasal speech are adenoid hypertrophy

Adenoid hypertrophy

Adenoid hypertrophy is the unusual growth of the adenoid tonsil. Firstly described and adenoidectomy performed by the Danish physician Wilhelm Meyer in Copenhagen in 1868. He described that a long term adenoid hypertrophy will cause a nasal obstruction airways...

, allergic rhinitis

Allergic rhinitis

Allergic rhinitis, also known as pollenosis or hay fever, is an allergic inflammation of the nasal airways.It occurs when an allergen, such as pollen, dust or animal dander is inhaled by an individual with a sensitized immune system...

, deviated septum

Deviated septum

Nasal septum deviation is a common physical disorder of the nose, involving a displacement of the nasal septum.-Causes:It is most frequently caused by impact trauma, such as by a blow to the face. It can also be a congenital disorder, caused by compression of the nose during childbirth...

, sinusitis

Sinusitis

Sinusitis is inflammation of the paranasal sinuses, which may be due to infection, allergy, or autoimmune issues. Most cases are due to a viral infection and resolve over the course of 10 days...

, and turbinate

Turbinate

In anatomy, a nasal concha is a long, narrow and curled bone shelf that protrudes into the breathing passage of the nose...

 hypertrophy

Hypertrophy

Hypertrophy is the increase in the volume of an organ or tissue due to the enlargement of its component cells. It should be distinguished from hyperplasia, in which the cells remain approximately the same size but increase in number...

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Hypernasal speech

Hypernasal speech

Hypernasal speech

Rhinolalia , aperta = open, is the medical term for hypernasal speech. The other terms are hyperrhinolalia and open nasality. Hypernasality is a disorder of nasal speech when the sound of the voice is different, an abnormal resonance...

 is inappropriate increased airflow through the nose during speech, especially with plosives and fricatives (syllables that begin with a consonant

Consonant

In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...

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Examples of hypernasal speech

Hypernasal speech

Rhinolalia , aperta = open, is the medical term for hypernasal speech. The other terms are hyperrhinolalia and open nasality. Hypernasality is a disorder of nasal speech when the sound of the voice is different, an abnormal resonance...

 include cleft palate and velopharyngeal insufficiency.

External links

• Nasal Speech Section of VoiceInfo.org