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A series of stimuli ranging between [tΛtΛ], [tΛ̄tΛ], and [tΛntΛ] were synthesized by systematically manipulating (1) the duration of nasalization in the vowel [Λ], (2) the amount of nasalization in the vowel, and (3) the duration of the nasal murmur following the vowel. The stimuli were presented to native speakers of Portuguese, English, and French, which differ with respect to the occurrence of nasal vowels in their phonological systems. The listeners were asked to judge, for each stimulus, (1) the presence or absence of nasalization and (2) the adequacy of the stimulus as a natural utterance with respect to its nasalization. The different language groups gave similar responses with regard to the presence or absence of nasalization. However, judgments of the naturalness of the stimuli in the different languages depend on the temporal characteristics. French listeners preferred a longer duration of nasalization in the vowel and were indifferent to the presence of murmur; English listeners preferred some murmur and accepted briefer nasalization in the vowel; and Portuguese responses were intermediate. Preliminary acoustic data from utterances in the three languages are in accord with these perceptual findings.

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