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nasality

nasality

1 7.2
A voice sound that comes through the nose
  • noun
  • /nəˈzeɪləti/
  • Specialized
translation icon : nasalidad
  • The children scored highest for the nasality and voicing features (33% and 30% of correct responses on average, respectively) and lowest for the place and frication features (7% and 13% of correct responses on average, respectively).
  • nasality and voicing
  • nasality for consonants; frontness
  • nasality and place

Examples

  • We found that not only frontness but also aperture were better perceived than nasality, which corresponds in part to our expectations.

    Academic text (2012)
  • For vowels, the deficit was larger for nasality than for labiality, frontness, and aperture.

    Academic text (2012)
  • For vowel perception, differences in precision between groups were smallest for frontness and aperture and largest for nasality.

    Academic text (2012)
  • The reliance of frontness on relatively high frequencies, in the F2 and F3 regions, and of nasality on lower frequencies, in the F1 region, could explain the differences in reception between these features.

    Academic text (2012)
  • Differences between features showed that for consonants, CI children have more difficulty perceiving nasality and place than manner and voicing; for vowel features, their difficulties are greater for nasality than aperture and frontness.

    Academic text (2012)
  • For instance, the envelope has decisive importance for the perception of voicing and manner, whereas temporal fine structure is decisive for place and nasality (Rosen, 1992; Stevens, 2000).

    Academic text (2012)
  • In both tasks, we assessed the features that define consonants (e.g., place, voicing, manner, nasality) and vowels (e.g., frontness, nasality, aperture).

    Academic text (2012)
  • Her nasality made it hard for him to understand what she was saying.

  • The singer's nasality gave her voice a distinct, unique sound.

  • He attempted to minimize the nasality in his speech to sound clearer.

Synonyms

nasal twang
vsnasality
1 7.9

A strong voice sound made through the nose common in some accents

is the general voice quality of sound through the nose less exaggerated
nasalization
vsnasality
  • Specialized
7.8

Air passing through the nose when speaking that changes a vowel or consonant sound

is the voice quality resulting from that production rather than the action

How Nasal

nasality
  • Specialized
1 7.2
oral consonant
  • Specialized
6.3

Surface Forms

nasality singular
nasalities plural

Morphology

nasality = nasal (transparent) = nasal + ity

Formed by adding the noun-forming suffix '-ity' to the adjective 'nasal', producing the quality or state 'nasality', which learners can readily infer.

Etymology

The word nasality comes from the old Latin word nasus, which means 'nose', and it shares the same root as the everyday word nasal. So nasality is the quality of a voice that sounds like it is made through the nose, which is why we call that sound 'nasal'.