Nasal emission is the escape of air through the nasal cavity during speech, occurring when oral pressure cannot be fully maintained for certain consonants. It is typically heard on high-pressure consonant sounds (like p, t, k, s, etc.) if the velopharyngeal port (the seal between the soft palate and the pharynx) does not close properly. Nasal emission often co-occurs with hypernasality and is commonly associated with velopharyngeal insufficiency or cleft palate conditions.
In evaluating resonance and articulation, SLPs listen for nasal emission as a sign of velopharyngeal dysfunction; its presence may indicate the need for medical management (such as surgery or a prosthetic) and/or speech therapy techniques to reduce inappropriate nasal airflow and improve intelligibility.
Oren, Liran, Ann W. Kummer, and Suzanne Boyce. “Understanding Nasal Emission During Speech Production: A Review of Types, Terminology, and Causality.” The Cleft Palate–Craniofacial Journal 57, no. 1 (2020). Link
Georgievska-Jancheska, Tatjana. “The Relationship Between the Type of Cleft and Nasal Air Emission in Speech of Children with Cleft Palate or Cleft Lip and Palate.” Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences 7, no. 3 (2019): 352–357. Link
