Nasal Vowel and Consonant Sounds in English

The nasal vowel sound is produced when the soft palate is lowered. The lowering of the soft palate results in the simultaneous escape of airflow through the mouth and nose. In the English language, there are nasalized vowels in place of nasal vowels.

Both the terms- nasal vowels and nasalized vowels should not be confused with each other. Although there are only oral vowels in the English language, tons of nasalization can be observed in vowels, which are known as nasalized vowels. 

What are Nasalized Vowels?

Nasalized vowels are pronounced under the influence of neighboring sounds. The nasalized vowels are influenced by the neighboring nasal consonants. In the English language, the vowels preceding the nasal consonants are nasalized and are known as nasalized vowels.

If there is a vowel between a nasal consonant and a non-nasal consonant, the vowel is partially nasalized. In such cases, the vowel is more nasalized on the side next to the nasal consonant. It should be noted that nasalization of vowels does not make any difference towards the phonology of these vowels. 

Examples of Nasalized Vowels Words

  • Bet —– The vowel “e” in this word is a nasalized vowel. 
  • But——– The vowel “u” in this word is a nasalized vowel.
  • Lent——- The vowel “e” in this word is a nasalized vowel.
  • Lay———— The vowel “a” in this word is nasalized. 
  • Tame——— The vowel “a” in this word is nasalized. 
  • Monday—— The vowel “o” in this word is nasalized. 
  • Sunday —-The vowel “u” in this word is nasalized. 

A nasal consonant in the English language is produced with a lowered velum in the mouth. It allows the air to come out through the nose so that the air passage through the mouth is blocked. The air passage through the mouth may be blocked by lips or tongue. The nasal consonants in the English language are  ‘m’ and ‘n’. 

Usually, nasal consonants are either voiced or voiceless. But in the English language, all the nasal consonants are voiced. These nasal consonants also make nasalized vowels, when preceded by a vowel. 

Types of Nasal Consonant Sounds

The two alphabets m and n produce nasal consonant sounds. But there are three nasal consonant sounds because the third sound is produced by ‘n’ only. These three sounds are divided into three different categories:

  1. Bilabial nasal sound
  2. Alveolar nasal sound
  3. Velar nasal sound 
  • Bilabial nasal sound is produced by the coming together of lips to obstruct the airflow through the mouth. The air escapes steadily through the nose rather than an abrupt explosion through the mouth. Do you know that bilabial nasal is one of the first sounds produced by the developing child? 
  • Examples are the sound ‘m’ in the words mop, may, and ham. 
  • Alveolar nasal sounds are produced when the air passage is obstructed between the tongue tip and alveolar ridge. Therefore, the name alveolar nasal sound is given.
  • Examples are ‘n’ in not, knee, and loan. 
  • The third type of nasal consonant sound is velar nasal sound. The word velar itself indicates that there is a role of velum in this sound production. This sound is articulated by the obstruction caused by the back of the tongue while contacting the velum. This sound is actually produced by the letter ‘n’ only, but completely different from the bilabial nasal sound. The given sound is denoted as ‘ng’.
  • The final sound of ‘n’ in sing, wing, and ring. 
  • The velar nasal sound does not appear at the beginning of syllables in English. It can be said that there are no words in the English language that begin with the velar nasal sound. 

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