Nasality from Moroccan Arabic Nasal and Pharyngeal Consonants: Patterns of Airflow and Nasalance

This aerodynamic study investigates velum activity during the production of nasal and pharyngeal consonants, using airflow, and during the production of vowels adjacent to nasal and pharyngeal consonants, using airflow and nasalance, in Moroccan Arabic (MA). The results indicate that the velum is lowered during the production of pharyngeals and that this overlaps on adjacent vowels. However, nasalance patterns on vowels suggest that nasality is greatest on the portion of the vowel opposite the actual pharyngeal. Examination of both oral and nasal airflow patterns on vowels indicates that actually oral airflow is increasing significantly towards the pharyngeal, due to extreme jaw lowering for this articulation, which accounts for the observed nasality patterns. This study highlights the importance of separating out the relative contribution of the oral and nasal tracts when investigating nasality patterns.