Nasal voice

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A nasal voice is a type of speaking voice 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.Nasal speech can be divided into hypo-nasal or hyper-nasal.

Hypo-nasal speech

  • Hypo-nasal speech is when there is a lack of appropriate nasal airflow during speech resulting in speech much as if someone has a bad cold.
    • Causes of hypo-nasal speech include anything that causes nasal obstruction including, but not limited to:
  • adenoid hypertrophy
  • turbinate hypertrophy
  • allergies
  • sinus infections
  • viral upper respiratory infection
  • deviated septum

    • Hyper-nasal speech

    Hyper-nasal speech is inappropriate increased airflow through the nose during speech, especially with plosives and fricatives (syllables that begin with a consonant). Examples of hyper-nasal speech include cleft palate and velopharyngeal insufficiency.

    People described as having nasal voices

  • Fran Drescher
  • Ray Romano
  • Neil Young
  • Bob Dylan
  • John Lennon
  • Billy Corgan
  • The character Janice on the popular sitcom Friends
  • Katie Carlile
  • Jiro Wang Dong Chen (Fahrenheit)
  • The characters Clyde Donovan and Kyle Schwartz in the animated show South Park


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