To evaluate hypernasality quantitatively, frequency analyses were performed on the Japanese isolated vowel /i/ produced by sixteen cleft palate patients with or without speech appliances and four normal subjects. These 26 speech samples were rated by 20 listeners. Analysis of the one‐third‐octave power spectra revealed an increase in power level between the first and second formant and a reduction in second and third formant regions among hypernasal speech samples. Factor analysis of the five‐point listener’s ratings revealed that the consensus perception of hypernasality accounted for 75% of the total variance. Multiple regression analysis revealed a high correlation (0.82) between the perception of hypernasality and the peak levels of two clusters of 1/3‐octave bands: the sixth, seventh, and eighth 1/3‐octave multiples, and the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth multiples from the band containing the fundamental frequency. Based on these findings, a system for evaluating hypernasality was developed using a computer and 1/3‐octave bandpass filter. This approach is presently being used to assess the relationship between velopharyngeal port area obtained from pressure‐flow study and hypernasality evaluated by this system.