ABSTRACT

Normal voice owes part of its carrying power to ‘nasality,’ i.e. a sound quality dependent on “certain component tones, mainly in the frequency region 300 to 600 cycles.” In certain bass voices the nasopharynx remains open, but speech does not give the impression of being nasal. On the other hand, the so-called ‘nasal twang’ of New England speech is caused by a pharyngeal constriction. The discrimination between excessive and diminished nasality is facilitated by using a simple rubber tube. One of its ends is put into the patient’s nose, the other into the therapist’s ear; this enables the latter to listen to the resonance while the patient pronounces vowels and consonants. Functional Hyporhinolalia demands exercises to remove the hypertension which is present with all sounds, especially the nasals. Drawn-out nasal sounds must be articulated while the patient feels the vibrations of the nasal wall with his finger.