Does smoking make a pronunciation bad?

Question

I feel that my english pronunciation got bad recently.

Does smoking have a negative influence on a pronunciation?

I have smoked a pack of cigars for last 20 years.

Also, getting old? Does it have the same bad impact on a pronunciation?

Help me.

Answer 1

I wouldn't think so. Pronunciation comes from the mouth -placement of tongue, movement of cheeks, lips, etc.- and voice from the throat. If anything, I've heard long-time smokers acquire a deeper, more gravelly voice as time goes on. Maybe it's not the pronunciation but the clarity of speech that gets affected.