nasal

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“
How do these things happen Oliver Wendell Holmes says that the Yankee school-marm, the cider and the salt codfish of the Eastern States, are responsible for what he calls a nasal accent.

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Definitions (36)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. adjective Of, in, or relating to the nose.
  2. adjective Linguistics Articulated by lowering the soft palate so that air resonates in the nasal cavities and passes out the nose, as in the pronunciation of the consonants (m), (n), and (ng) or the nasalized vowel of French bon.
  3. adjective Characterized by or resembling a resonant sound produced through the nose: a nasal whine.
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Examples (50)

  • In English, initial velar nasal is a no-no, let alone an initial cluster with another nasal, [m].
  • Even the syllabic velar nasal is a stumper for most Anglophones, as I discussed in my post on Maya Soetoro-Ng.As it turns out, vocal calisthenics aren't required: the name is supposed to be pronounced en-gee-moco.
  • It is a very striking ornament indeed; but what Owen and Waterhouse Hawkins didn't know was that the pointed bone that they identified as a nasal horn was in fact one of a pair of thumb-like spikes that Iguanodons had on their hands close to their wrists. —  Asimov'sSF,August2006
  • His voice was nasal, the effect of keeping one eye open and the other eye shut. —  Echo Burning by Lee Child
  • Apparently the visitors did not approve of being left to wait in the passage, and judged it expedient to make an entrance Excuse me if we walk right in," said a nasal-toned voice; "but I was told we'd find Miss Diana Hewlitt in here The five girls, scattered about the room, stared for a second in blank amazement at the intruders. —  A harum-scarum schoolgirl
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Possibly from Middle English nasale, from Medieval Latin nāsālis, from Latin nāsus, nose; see nas- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. As a noun, in def. 1, Middle English nasell, from . Old French nasal, nasel, nazel, a part of the helmet which protected the nose; in other senses modern, from French nasal = Spanish Portuguese nasal = Italian nasale, from New Latin nasalis, of the nose, from Latin nasus = English nose: see nose.
 

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/ˈnæzəl/
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