Nasal Voice Disorder
In the English language, there are only three sounds that should vibrate in your nose: the m, the n, and the ng sounds. What this means is that any word you say with any of those letters or sounds will vibrate in your nasal cavity to some degree. Words like, mail, man, plan and ring for example. The result may be a whiny sound or a twang.
To see if you are a nasal speaker, place a finger on each side of your nose very gently. No pressure. Say the word “believe”. Did you feel any vibration? Again, just grazing your nose with your fingers, say the word “away”. Did you vibrate? Now say the word “and.” If your nose vibrated on any of the three examples above, you may have some nasal issues. If you vibrated heavily on all three sounds, you could potentially have serious nasal issues.
The good news is that nasality can be eliminated with a bit of practice and the retraining of your inner ear.
Nasality happens when your soft palate does not lift up, allowing excessive air to come through your nose. When you speak most of the sounds, ideally, your soft palate lifts and closes off the nasal passage and the air moves out through your mouth.
If your soft palate isn’t being lifted up, it could be due to a structural problem or because of your jaw and tongue are not relaxed and are too tense. Frequently it is because your mouth is not opening wide enough.
