When is the velum lowered

Hypernasality occurs when there is too much sound vibrating in the nasal cavity causing speech to have a nasal quality. This can be the result of obstruction when there is nasal congestion, enlarged adenoids and a deviated septum. Therapy is effective and appropriate if the individual demonstrates the following:. Your email address will not be published.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Suffolk Center for Speech. Before discussing the two respective cavities, it is important to mention the role played during articulation by the velum or the soft palate.

The velum is the continuation of the roof of the mouth also called the palate. The harder, bony structure situated towards the exterior of the mouth continues with the velum into the rear part of the mouth. Thus, if the velum is raised, blocking the nasal cavity , the air is directed out through the mouth and the sounds thus produced will be oral sounds.

If the velum is lowered, we can articulate either nasal sounds , if the air is expelled exclusively via the nasal cavity, or nasalized sounds if, in spite of the lowered position of the velum, the air is still allowed to go out through the mouth as well as through the nose. If we nip our nostrils or if the nasal cavity is blocked because of a cold, hay fever, etc, we can easily notice the importance of the nasal cavity as a resonator and the way in which its blocking affects normal speech production.

We have mentioned above the oral cavity as one of the two possible outlets for the airstream that is expelled by our respiratory system. The oral cavity plays an essential role in phonation as it is here that the main features of the sounds that we articulate are uttered. The cavity itself acts as a resonator , and we can modify its shape and volume, thus modifying the acoustic features of the sounds we produce, while various organs that delimit the oral cavity or are included in it the tongue are active or passive participants in the act of phonation.

If we follow the airstream out through the mouth oral cavity we can easily notice the above-mentioned organs that play an important role in the process of sound articulation. We look at the vertical position of the tongue, the horizontal position of the tongue and lip position.

Vowels are made with a free passage of airflow down the mid-line of the vocal tract. They are usually voiced and are produced without friction. If the tongue is close, it is given the label close. The lips can either be round, spread or neutral.

There are also different categories of vowels, for example: monophthongs and diphthongs. Monophthongs: Monophthongs are vowels that are produced by a relatively stable tongue position. Monophthongs can be divided into two categories according to their duration. These are long and short vowels and their duration is mirrored in their names. Diphthongs: Diphthongs are vowels where the tongue moves from one part of the mouth to another.

They can be seen as starting of as one vowel and ending as a different vowel. The production of speech involves 3 processes: Initiation: Setting air in motion through the vocal tract.

Phonation : The modification of airflow as it passes through the larynx related to voicing. Articulatory phonetics can be seen as divided up into three areas to describe consonants. These are voice, place and manner respectively.

Each of these will now be discussed separately, although all three areas combine together in the production of speech. I will now talk about the different places of articulation in the vocal tract Bilabial : Bilabial sounds involve the upper and lower lips. In the production of a bilabial sound, the lips come into contact with each other to form an effective constriction. Labiodental : Labiodental sounds involve the lower lip labial and upper teeth dental coming into contact with each other to form an effective constriction in the vocal tract.