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Glite Dictionary
nasal vowel

nasal vowel

7.5
A vowel sound made when air flows through both the nose and the mouth
  • noun
  • /ˈneɪzəl vaʊəl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : vocal nasal
  • Many languages, including Portuguese, use several nasal vowels that enhance the richness of their sound systems.

Examples

  • While practicing phonetics, students often learn to identify nasal vowels by noting the airflow through the nose and mouth.

  • The French vocalic repertoire includes three to four nasal vowels depending on the dialect (Malmberg, 1971).

    Academic text (2012)

  • In French, the words 'vin' and 'pain' feature distinct nasal vowels that are essential to proper pronunciation.

Synonyms

orinasal phone
vsnasal vowel
  • Specialized
9.9

A sound you make when air flows through both the mouth and the nose, like some French vowels

is limited to vowel sounds produced this way rather than any speech sound

How Nasal

nasal vowel
  • Specialized
7.5
oral vowel
  • Specialized
7.7

Surface Forms

nasal vowel singular
nasal vowels plural

Morphology

nasal + vowel

The meaning 'a vowel produced with airflow through the nose' is directly derivable from combining 'nasal' (relating to the nose) with 'vowel' (a voiced speech sound). This is a straightforward descriptive, compositional term used in phonetics and appears across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand it.

Etymology

Nasal vowel comes from the image of a nasal vowel sound made with air passing through both the mouth and the nose, like saying a vowel while your nose hums. That's why the word 'nasal' meaning 'about the nose' tells you these vowels sound different, as in the French word 'bon'.