THE ACTION OF THE SOFT PALATE IN SPEAKING AND 
SWALLOWING, AS SEEN THROUGH THE NOSE 
IN CERTAIN CASES. 
Instructor in Harvard University ; Physician to Out-patients with Diseases of the Throat 
at the Massachusetts General Hospital. 
By F. I. Knight, M.D. 
The views of writers and experimenter^ in regard to the position of 
the soft palate in speaking, have, in times gone by, been very contra- 
dictory ; on the one hand, some affirming that in the pronunciation of 
vowels, for instance, the soft palate was raised even to a complete 
closure of the posterior nares, and others maintaining that it remained 
unmoved. 
Bidder (Neue Beobachtungen uber die Bewegungen des weichen Gau- 
mens)* had an opportunity of observing the action of the soft palate4' 
in speaking, through a large opening in the nasal region, and found 
that in the pronunciation of the vowel sounds the palate was indeed 
raised, but that the posterior nares were not completely closed. 
Shuh (Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift, Jan. 16, ISoS)^ commu- 
nicates observations which he had the opportunity of making on a pa- 
tient from whose nasal region he had removed a growth, with 
considerable loss of substance of the nose. He was able, on this ac- 
count, to obtain a good look down upon the soft palate. He watched 
its action, both in deglutition and in phonation. He found that, in the 
pronunciation of the vowels, the soft palate was always raised. This 
elevation of the palate he found to be least in the pronunciation of A 
(ah), not up to a horizontal line ; with the other vowels, he found it 
to be raised above the horizontal line, most by I (ee), a little less by 
U (oo), and still less by 0 (oh) and E (ay), no difference having been 
noted between the two latter. 
Shuh observed a rising of the soft palate, at least to the horizontal 
line, with all the consonants except the nasals. 
The uvula was never visible fr< m the nose. 
These observations of Bidder and Shuh are the only ones, as far as I 
know, in which there has been a direct inspection of the soft palate 
through the nose, and in both of these there was an abnormal opening. 
Although it has been noticed that by anterior rhinoscopy, in favora- 
ble cases, the posterior wall of the pharynx can be seen, yet no one 
seems to have hitherto observed ihe action of the soft palate through 
the healthy nose. 1 have recently had two patients, through whose 
well-dilated nostrils, by using reflected light, I could see well the ac- 
tion of the soft palate, in speaking and swallowing. In one of the 
cases, I tried all of the vowels. My results were essentially the same 
as Shuh's, the soft palate rising highest with I (ee), the least with A 
(ah), and there being not much difference between the others. I tried a 
few consonants, only, but with the same result. 
I do not doubt there are many cases in which this action can be 
well seen through the nose. It has not been noticed before, because 
it is only since the perfection of laryngoscopy that we have usually 
employed strong, reflected light in examining the nose, and because, 
during the examination of the anterior nares, the patient does not 
usually speak or swallow, and so bring the soft palate up into the line 
of vision. 
* Ueber die Verschliessung des Schhindes beim Sprechen. Dr. Gustav Fassavant. 
Frankfurt, a. M. 1863. 
t Fassavant. Loc. eit.