Vocal tract · live model
The vocal tract

Why cleft speech
sounds the way it does

Drag in the mouth to move the tongue. Then open the soft palate and listen to the same mouth change.

Soft palate
PositionSealed
Say a vowel
What you are hearing

Sealed, air leaves through the mouth and consonants have pressure behind them.

Open, air escapes down the nose and the same sound goes weak and nasal. That is velopharyngeal insufficiency: structure, not effort, which is why blowing exercises do not help.

Pressure consonants
pbtd kgsf
Model: Pink Trombone by Neil Thapen, MIT. Tap the tract once to start sound.