adenoidal speech, an abnormal manner of speaking caused by hypertrophy of the adenoidal tissue that normally exists in the nasopharynx of children. It is often characterized by hyponasality, with the consonants /m/, /n/, and /ng/ most affected. It may be self-limited with age-related growth of the craniofacial skeleton or corrected by a natural reduction of the swollen tissues or by surgical excision of the adenoids.
