Nasal Nunciation
Nasal Nunciation, or more commonly referred to as "speaking through your nose", is a common trope typically assigned to make a character seem either intellectual, uncultured, or young, or even some combination of the three. It is commonly used to flesh out characterization or reinforce stereotypes, especially when used with the Geek or Nerd character.
Examples of Nasal Nunciation include:
Literature
- In the Tom Clancy books, Admiral Greer is noted to have a nasal accent.
Live-Action Television
- One of the best-known examples, Lampshaded and played with and on occasion completely inverted, is Fran Drescher in The Nanny.
Video Games
- The first Gothic game has a lot of characters with a nasal accent, especially in the Old Camp.
- Grand Theft Auto has a few characters with this trait used to emphasize them as as a stereotypical Nerd, like:
- Zero, from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
- Lester, from Grand Theft Auto V.
Western Animation
- Dexter and Mandark from Dexter's Laboratory both have this accent to emphasize their geekiness, though in The Movie, Bad Future Dexter doesn't have it, to emphasize how much more badass he is.
- Edd from Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy is obviously a Geek, but Sarah and Jimmy have this accent to show their youth.
Real Life
- While media portrayals often give Abraham Lincoln a professional manly voice, contemporary records have led historians to believe he actually spoke closer to this.