In phonetics, nasalization is the production of a sound while the velum is lowered. This allows air to flow through both the oral and nasal cavities. This results in a distinct resonance and quality of the sound, which can be heard in certain vowels and consonants in many languages, such as French, Portuguese, and Polish. Nasalization can also be used to distinguish between different sounds in a language, such as the difference between the English words "pin" and "bin," which is primarily determined by whether or not the vowel sound is nasalized.