In phonetics, a nasal, also called a nasal occlusive, nasal stop in contrast with a nasal fricative, or nasal continuant, is an occlusive consonant produced with a lowered velum, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasals in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth. Nasal occlusives are nearly universal in human languages. There are also other kinds of nasal consonants in some languages.