Nasality for Dummies

Nasality refers to the quality of sound that is produced when air passes through the nose while speaking. You see, when we speak, the sounds we make usually come from our vocal cords, which are located in our throat. These sounds then travel through our mouth, where they are shaped and formed by different parts, like our tongue and lips, to create specific words and sounds.

However, sometimes, instead of all the sound coming out of our mouths, some of it sneaks out through our nose too. This is called nasality. It's like when you're drinking a smoothie and it starts to dribble out of the straw and not only into your mouth. In speech, it means that some of the sounds we make are escaping through our nose, making our speech sound a little different.

For example, let's say you're saying the word "man." Normally, the air from your lungs would pass through your vocal cords, creating the sound "mmm" as you say the "m" sound. Then, the air would pass through your mouth, shaping the "an" sound. But if you have nasality, a little bit of the air might sneak out through your nose when you're saying the "m" sound, so instead of "man," it might sound a bit more like "hmm." It's like a little detour for some of the air on its way out.

Nasality can be natural for some sounds, like the sounds we make when we say certain letters like "m" and "n." These sounds actually rely on a small amount of air passing through the nose to be pronounced correctly. But when nasality happens with other sounds that aren't supposed to be nasal, like "p" and "k," it can make our speech sound a bit odd or different.

So, when we talk about "nasality," we are talking about the quality of sound that comes out of our nose as we speak, whether it's intentional or not. It's like an extra pathway for the air to escape, which can sometimes change the way our speech sounds to others.