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presence of a nasal formant at the same general frequency (this nasal formant is visible in
the nasal consonant). The same loss of separation between F1 and F2 can be seen in the
possible word == == == == in Figure 8.39. In addition, the formant structure of the vowels in
Figures 8.38 and 8.39 (adjacent to a nasal consonant) is less well defined than that found
in Figure 8.37 (adjacent to an oral consonant).
There is an additional property in the speech of Speaker K providing further
evidence for the presence of nasalization in the vowels adjacent to a nasal consonant.
Examine again the spectrograms of the possible words == == == == and == == == == in Figures 8.38 and
8.39. During the articulation of the nasal consonant in each case, there is a nasal formant
FN at a frequency of approximately 2100 Hz. It is lighter than the vocalic formants, but
nevertheless it is visible. Also note that in the vowel preceding the nasal consonant, F3 is
visible at the beginning, but becomes less resolute close to the consonant. In the vowel
following the nasal consonant, F3 is not clearly distinguishable, but the nasal formant at
2100 Hz projects into the vowel area.
Figure 8.37: Waveform and spectrogram of the possible word =>= =>= (Speaker K).
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