The tongue is a huge muscle. The atrophy of the tongue takes away the speech slowly but surely. It has nothing to do with the saliva. The saliva problem is because the tongue cannot swallow as once before, thus the drooling.
Think about when you've had a cold or the flu and you were drooling on your pillow. Could you still talk normal? Yes, but nasal like?
Think about when you've had a cold or the flu and you were drooling on your pillow. Could you still talk normal? Yes, but nasal like?