nasalization
/ˌneɪ.zə.ləˈzeɪ.ʃən/noun
nasalization is a noun meaning “the articulation of a vowel or continuant consonant in such a way that air flows through the nose at the same time as it flows through the mouth” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled N-A-S-A-L-I-Z-A-T-I-O-N and has 5 syllables, and it appears about once in every 40 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of nasalization is nasalizations.
What does nasalization mean?
noun
- 1
the articulation of a vowel or continuant consonant in such a way that air flows through the nose at the same time as it flows through the mouth
- 2
a particular instance of such change
- 3
eclipsis
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce nasalization?
- UK /ˌneɪ.zəˌlaɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/
- US /ˌneɪ.zə.ləˈzeɪ.ʃən/
- US /ˌneɪ.zəˌlaɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/
Nasalization has 5 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-nasalization.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of nasalization
- nasalizations plural
- nasalisation
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is nasalization?
Nasalization appears about once in every 40 million words in written English, the 194,306th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Nasalization in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense articulation such that air flows through the nose and mouth:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | nasalisation |
| German | Nasalierung |
| Portuguese | nasalização |
| Spanish | nasalización |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does nasalization come from?
From nasalize + -ation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).