nasalise

Everyday

To make a speech sound through the nose, letting air come out of the nose as well as the mouth. tree →

In the lessons

A word from phonics and language study: sounds like "m", "n" and "ng" are nasal, and French has nasalised vowels (as in "bon" and "vin"). People with a cold may sound less nasal because their nose is blocked.

Examples

• French speakers nasalise the vowel in "bon". tree →
• Try to say "man" and notice how you nasalise the "a". tree →
• Some accents nasalise vowels before "m" and "n". tree →
• In French class we practised nasalised vowels. tree →
• When you hold your nose you cannot nasalise a sound. tree →
• Our teacher showed how "ng" is nasalised at the back of the mouth. tree →

Note

UK spelling "nasalise"; US spelling "nasalize". Adjective "nasal" (to do with the nose). Mainly a specialist word for language study.