🎙️ Resonance for Speech – Q&A

What is resonance?

Modification of sound by vocal tract cavities.

What does resonance determine?

Voice quality and uniqueness.

What directs sound to the right cavity?

Velopharyngeal valve.

Which cavities affect resonance?

Pharyngeal, oral, and nasal.

What affects resonance most?

Size and shape of the cavities.

💨 Resonance Disorders – Overview

What is a resonance disorder?

Abnormal sound energy transmission through oral/nasal cavities.

What are the four resonance disorders?

Hypernasality, hyponasality, cul-de-sac, mixed.

What causes most resonance disorders?

Velopharyngeal dysfunction or obstruction.

🌬️ Hypernasality

What is hypernasality?

Too much nasal sound on oral phonemes.

What causes hypernasality?

Velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) or oronasal leak.

When is it most noticeable?

On vowels.

What happens in severe hypernasality?

Oral sounds become nasalized (m/b, n/d, ŋ/g).

Why is speech volume reduced?

Sound absorbed in nasal and pharyngeal tissues.

What are obligatory distortions?

Normal articulation, abnormal structure.

How do you treat obligatory distortions?

Correct structure (surgery/prosthesis).

What are compensatory errors?

Abnormal articulation placement from structure deficit.

How do you treat compensatory errors?

Fix structure and give speech therapy.

Give examples of compensatory errors.

Pharyngeal fricatives, nasal substitutions, glottal stops.

List causes of hypernasality.

VPI, submucous cleft, oronasal fistula, phoneme-specific mislearning.

🤧 Hyponasality / Denasality

What is hyponasality?

Too little nasal resonance.

What is denasality?

No nasal resonance.

What sounds are most affected?

Nasal consonants (m, n, ŋ).

What do nasal sounds become?

Their oral cognates (b/m, d/n, g/ŋ).

Main cause of hyponasality?

Nasal or nasopharyngeal blockage.

List common causes of obstruction.

Cold, allergies, adenoid hypertrophy, large tonsils.

How can cleft lip/palate cause hyponasality?

Deviated septum, maxillary retrusion, or over-correction of VPI surgery.

🔇 Cul-de-Sac Resonance

What is cul-de-sac resonance?

Sound trapped in a cavity with blocked exit.

How does it sound?

Muffled and low-volume.

Why does this happen?

Sound absorbed by soft tissue.

Where can it occur?

Oral, nasal, or pharyngeal cavity.

⚖️ Mixed Resonance

What is mixed resonance?

Combination of resonance disorders.

Can hypernasality and hyponasality occur together?

Yes, on different sounds.

What causes mixed resonance?

VPI plus obstruction or apraxia.

💨 Nasal Emission

What is nasal emission?

Airflow escape through the nose during speech.

When does nasal emission occur?

On pressure consonants (plosives, fricatives, affricates).

What causes it?

VP leak or palatal fistula.

Which sounds show it most?

Voiceless sounds like /p, t, s, f/.

🔍 Types of Nasal Emission

What is nasal rustle/turbulence?

Small opening with high-pressure airflow noise.

What is audible nasal emission?

Medium opening with clear air noise.

What is inaudible nasal emission?

Large opening with weak pressure.

What is PSNE (phoneme-specific nasal emission)?

Mislearned pharyngeal placement on certain fricatives.

How does opening size affect sound?

Small → high velocity, loud rustle; large → weak airflow.

⚠️ Secondary Features of Nasal Emission

What are weak or omitted consonants from?

Air leak reducing oral pressure.

Why are utterances short?

Frequent breaths needed due to airflow loss.

What is a nasal grimace?

Muscle tightening near the nose during effortful closure.

When does nasal grimace occur most?

With large VP openings.

🔁 Compensatory Productions

What are compensatory productions?

Altered placement due to structural deficit.

What stays the same in compensatory productions?

Manner of articulation.

Why are they used?

To increase intelligibility despite airflow loss.

How are they treated?

Speech therapy after structural repair.

🧩 Quick Diagnostic Keys

Hypernasality + nasal emission →

VPI or fistula.

Hyponasality only →

Nasal blockage.

Cul-de-sac resonance →

Sound trapped in cavity.

Mixed resonance →

VPI + obstruction.

Short utterances and nasal grimace →

Large VP leak.