As an example, the nasalized sound that one hears at the beginning of the word gnocchi is spelled gn in Italian, n in Spanish, nh in Portuguese, and gn in French.

But just as often, the vocals are squeezed, nasalized, multiplied, pitch-shifted or radically disembodied.

Almost the only compound consonants which survived in the Pr. stage were double letters, and in W.H. and E.H. these are usually simplified, the preceding vowel being lengthened and sometimes nasalized, in compensation.

In G. the nominative and oblique plural for all nouns are formed by adding ō to the oblique form singular, but in the neuter strong forms the oblique singular is nasalized.

Our Southern accent, with its drawling of words and slurring of consonants, our Middle-Western accent, with its stressed articulation of "r's" and its nasalizing tendencies, are instances of this persistence.