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Literary notes about Nasal (AI summary)

The term "nasal" in literature has been used with a remarkable range of nuance, applied both to characterize vocal qualities and to serve technical or metaphorical purposes. It may evoke a particular voice quality—as seen when characters imitate or are described with a distinctive nasal tone, whether to add humor or underline a personality trait (e.g., [1], [2], [3], [4])—or to capture a musical or acoustic texture, as noted in discussions of instruments or vocal exercises ([5], [6], [7], [8], [9]). Additionally, "nasal" has been employed in more clinical or anatomical contexts, highlighting specific structures or features (for example, in the detailed anatomical references in [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15]). Whether lending a comic or critical edge in fictional settings or contributing to precise scientific description, the usage reflects the word’s versatility in evoking both sound and structure across diverse genres.
  1. Mose imitated precisely the nasal tones of the old man, tumbling on the floor, to illustrate the supposed catastrophe.
    — from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
  2. “That’s just what I am thinking,” he answered in a squeaky, somewhat nasal tenor, taking off his cap.
    — from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
  3. Mr Dedalus, still crooning and swaying his head, began to sing in a grunting nasal tone:
    — from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
  4. “Nowhere,” answered Mr Verloc in a low, choked nasal tone.
    — from The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale by Joseph Conrad
  5. There are such words as joy and sorrow, but they are only the burden of a psalm, sung with a nasal twang, while we believe in the ordinary and mean.
    — from Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
  6. To develop nasal resonance sing the following, dwelling as long as possible on the ng sounds.
    — from The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein
  7. Pitch the voice in the nasal cavity.
    — from The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein
  8. The lower register of the oboes and bassoons is thick and rough, yet still nasal in quality; the very high compass is shrill, hard and dry.
    — from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson
  9. The dark, nasal tone of the oboe will prevail in the low register, the bright, "chest" quality of the clarinet in the high compass.
    — from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson
  10. N nostrils, Na nasal bone, Mx upper jaw, Prf prefrontal, Fr frontal bone, A eye-pits, S temple-pits.
    — from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget
  11. n nasal bone, pf frontal bone, l lachrymal bone, po postorbital bone, sq covering bone, i cheek-bone, vo vomer, im inter-maxillary.
    — from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget
  12. Even males have a crescent and a dot tattooed on the forehead, the corresponding mark in females being a line from the nasal pit upwards.
    — from Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 7 of 7 by Edgar Thurston
  13. breadth 14.2 15.2 13.3 Do. index 73.3 81.3 68.7 Nasal height 4.7 4.9 4.6 Do. breadth 3.6 3.8 3.4 Do. index 74.9 79.9 70.
    — from Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 7 of 7 by Edgar Thurston
  14. nasal mucus, p. 90, note 1 . 163 “Sur l’Ensemble des Choses” (Daremberg).
    — from Galen: On the Natural Faculties by Galen
  15. 137 Nasal mucus was supposed to be the non-utilizable part of the nutriment conveyed to the brain, cf.
    — from Galen: On the Natural Faculties by Galen

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