Relationship between Vowel Production and Speech Clarity in Post-stroke Dysarthria Patients / 中国康复理论与实践

Objective:To explore the characteristics of vowel production of dysarthria after stroke, and the relationship between vowel production and speech clarity. Methods:From October, 2019 to January, 2020, 19 patients with post-stroke dysarthria and 18 healthy controls were asked to read a short essay to extract vowels, and measured the jaw distance, tongue distance, F2i/F2u, vowel space area (VSA), vowel articulation index (VAI), F1 and F2 variability, and speech clarity. The correlation between vowel production and speech clarity were analyzed. Results:Tongue distance, F2i/F2u, VSA, VAI, and speech clarity were less in the patients than in the controls (|t| > 2.268, P < 0.05), while F2 variability was more (t = 2.375, P < 0.05). F2i/F2u (r = 0.465), VAI (r = 0.488) and F2 variability (r = -0.504) were correlated to speech clarity (P < 0.05). Conclusion:The vowel production impaired in patients with post-stroke dysarthria, featured as abnormal articulatory movements, concentration of vowels and poor stability of vowels, which impacts the speech clarity.

Analysis of Temporal parameters in the Speech of the Children with Hearing Loss

The surge of literature indicates that the to develop more effective speech training procedures for the subjects with hearingloss, it is necessary to study the deviation in their speech from that of the normal-hearing subjects and hence, the analysis ofspeech of the subjects with hearing loss becomes essential. The current investigation aimed at studying the temporalparameters of vowel and consonants in the speech in children with hearing loss. Sixteen bisyllabic words with stopconsonants and vowels, uttered by participants with severe sensorineural hearing loss and age and gender-matched normalhearing participants in the age range of eight to ten years were recorded and the temporal parameters namely vowel duration,closure duration, consonant duration, voice onset time, burst duration, and word duration were analysed acoustically. Resultsof statistical analyses revealed that there were significant differences in vowel duration, voice onset time, closure durationand consonant duration between the participants of two groups. No differences in burst duration were observed between theparticipants of both groups.

Effects of Vowel and Consonant Duration Transformation on the Speech Intelligibility in Children with Hearing Loss

The present study aimed at investigating the effects of transformation of vowel and consonant duration on the intelligibility ofspeech in children with hearing loss. Sixteen bisyllabic words with stop consonants and vowels, uttered by participants withsevere sensorineural hearing loss and normal hearing participants in the age range of eight to ten years were recorded, and thevowel duration and consonant duration were analysed acoustically. Results of statistical analyses revealed that there weresignificant differences in both the vowel duration and consonant duration between the participants of two groups. The meanvalues of both vowel duration and consonant duration of the participants with normal hearing were used to transform (toapproximate the normal values) the vowel and consonant duration (individually and in combination) in the speech of theparticipants with hearing loss. The results of perceptual analysis showed significantly higher speech intelligibility scores forthe transformed words compared to the unaltered words spoken by the children with hearing loss. Combined transformationsresulted in the highest improvement in speech intelligibility compared to the individual transformations of vowel duration andconsonant duration.

Comparison of McGurk Effect across Three Consonant-Vowel Combinations in Kannada

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The influence of visual stimulus on the auditory component in the perception of auditory-visual (AV) consonant-vowel syllables has been demonstrated in different languages. Inherent properties of unimodal stimuli are known to modulate AV integration. The present study investigated how the amount of McGurk effect (an outcome of AV integration) varies across three different consonant combinations in Kannada language. The importance of unimodal syllable identification on the amount of McGurk effect was also seen. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Twenty-eight individuals performed an AV identification task with ba/ ga, pa/ka and ma/n· a consonant combinations in AV congruent, AV incongruent (McGurk combination), audio alone and visual alone condition. Cluster analysis was performed using the identification scores for the incongruent stimuli, to classify the individuals into two groups; one with high and the other with low McGurk scores. The differences in the audio alone and visual alone scores between these groups were compared. RESULTS: The results showed significantly higher McGurk scores for ma/n· a compared to ba/ga and pa/ka combinations in both high and low McGurk score groups. No significant difference was noted between ba/ga and pa/ka combinations in either group. Identification of /n· a/ presented in the visual alone condition correlated negatively with the higher McGurk scores. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the final percept following the AV integration is not exclusively explained by the unimodal identification of the syllables. But there are other factors which may also contribute to making inferences about the final percept.

Medial-Vowel Writing Difficulty in Korean Syllabic Writing: A Characteristic Sign of Alzheimer's Disease

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Korean-speaking patients with a brain injury may show agraphia that differs from that of English-speaking patients due to the unique features of Hangul syllabic writing. Each grapheme in Hangul must be arranged from left to right and/or top to bottom within a square space to form a syllable, which requires greater visuospatial abilities than when writing the letters constituting an alphabetic writing system. Among the Hangul grapheme positions within a syllable, the position of a vowel is important because it determines the writing direction and the whole configuration in Korean syllabic writing. Due to the visuospatial characteristics of the Hangul vowel, individuals with early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD) may experiences differences between the difficulties of writing Hangul vowels and consonants due to prominent visuospatial dysfunctions caused by parietal lesions. METHODS: Eighteen patients with EOAD and 18 age-and-education-matched healthy adults participated in this study. The participants were requested to listen to and write 30 monosyllabic characters that consisted of an initial consonant, medial vowel, and final consonant with a one-to-one phoneme-to-grapheme correspondence. We measured the writing time for each grapheme, the pause time between writing the initial consonant and the medial vowel (P1), and the pause time between writing the medial vowel and the final consonant (P2). RESULTS: All grapheme writing and pause times were significantly longer in the EOAD group than in the controls. P1 was also significantly longer than P2 in the EOAD group. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with EOAD might require a higher judgment ability and longer processing time for determining the visuospatial grapheme position before writing medial vowels. This finding suggests that a longer pause time before writing medial vowels is an early marker of visuospatial dysfunction in patients with EOAD.

Acoustic Features and Cortical Auditory Evoked Potentials according to Emotional Statues of /u/, /a/, /i/ Vowels

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although Ling 6 sounds are often used in the rehabilitation process, its acoustic features have not been fully analyzed and represented in cortical responses. Current study was aimed to analyze acoustic features according to gender and emotional statuses of core vowels of Ling 6 sounds, /u/, /a/, and /i/. Cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) were also observed in those vowels. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Vowel sounds /u/, /a/, and /i/ out of Ling 6 sounds representing low, middle and high frequencies were recorded from normal 20 young adults. The participants watched relevant videos for 4-5 minutes in order for them to sympathize emotions with anger (A), happiness (H), and sadness (S) before producing vowels. And without any emotional salience, neutrally production was performed. The recording was extracted for 500 ms to select pure vowel portion of production. For analysis of CAEP, the latencies and amplitudes of P1, N1, P2, N2, N1-P2 were analyzed. RESULTS: Intensities of /u/, /a/, and /i/ were 61.47, 63.38, and 60.55 dB. The intensities of neutral (N), H, A, S were 60.60, 65.43, 64.21, and 55.75 dB for vowel /u/, vowel /a/ were 61.80, 68.98, 66.50, and 56.23 dB, and vowel /i/ were 59.34, 64.90, 61.90, and 56.05 dB. The statistical significances for vowel and emotion were found but not for gender. The fundamental frequency (F0) of vowels for N, A, H, and S were 168.04, 174.93, 182.72, and 149.76 Hz and the first formant were 743.75, 815.59, 823.32, and 667.62 Hz. The statistical significance of F0 was found by vowel, emotion, and gender. The latencies and amplitudes of CAEP components did not show any statistical significance according to vowel. CONCLUSIONS: Ling 6 sounds should be produced consistently in the rehabilitation process for considering their difference of intensities and frequencies according to speaker’s emotions and gender. The vowels seemed to be interpreted as tonal stimuli for CAEP components of this study with similar acoustic features among them. Careful selection of materials is necessary to observe meaningful conclusion of CAEP measurement with vowel stimuli.

Effect of Vowel Context on the Recognition of Initial Consonants in Kannada

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of vowel context on the recognition of Kannada consonants in quiet for young adults. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 17 young adults with normal hearing in both ears participated in the study. The stimuli included consonant-vowel syllables, spoken by 12 native speakers of Kannada. Consonant recognition task was carried out as a closed-set (fourteen-alternative forced-choice). RESULTS: The present study showed an effect of vowel context on the perception of consonants. Maximum consonant recognition score was obtained in the /o/ vowel context, followed by the /a/ and /u/ vowel contexts, and then the /e/ context. Poorest consonant recognition score was obtained in the vowel context /i/. CONCLUSIONS: Vowel context has an effect on the recognition of Kannada consonants, and the vowel effect was unique for Kannada consonants.

Effect of Vowel Context on the Recognition of Initial Consonants in Kannada

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of vowel context on the recognition of Kannada consonants in quiet for young adults. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 17 young adults with normal hearing in both ears participated in the study. The stimuli included consonant-vowel syllables, spoken by 12 native speakers of Kannada. Consonant recognition task was carried out as a closed-set (fourteen-alternative forced-choice). RESULTS: The present study showed an effect of vowel context on the perception of consonants. Maximum consonant recognition score was obtained in the /o/ vowel context, followed by the /a/ and /u/ vowel contexts, and then the /e/ context. Poorest consonant recognition score was obtained in the vowel context /i/. CONCLUSIONS: Vowel context has an effect on the recognition of Kannada consonants, and the vowel effect was unique for Kannada consonants.

Changes in Oral Vowel Sounds and Hyoid Bone Movement After Thyroidectomy

OBJECTIVES: Voice and speech alterations after total thyroidectomy may be associated with other extralaryngeal factors, such as neck muscle dysfunction and neck scar contracture. We evaluated the acoustic characteristics of oral vowel sounds and changes in hyoid bone movement before and after thyroidectomy. METHODS: Twenty-nine female patients undergoing total thyroidectomy were included. Fundamental frequencies (Fo), formants and vowel space areas were evaluated before surgery and 7 days and 3 months after surgery to acoustically analyze the oral vowel sounds. Videofluoroscopic images were taken at the same times to evaluate hyoid bone movement. RESULTS: The Fo levels of seven vowels decreased significantly after surgery. The vowel formant changes the F1 of vowel /[e]/ decreased significantly from baseline at 3 months postoperatively, and the F3 of vowel /[i]/ decreased significantly from baseline 7 days postoperatively. The change in the vowel space area was not observed. The Y coordinate of the vowels /[i]/ and /[e]/ decreased significantly from baseline 7 days postoperatively due to changes in hyoid movement. CONCLUSION: The damage to the neck muscles after thyroidectomy changes in Fo, formant and hyoid bone position. These quantitative results could be used as basic data for voice management in patients who undergo thyroidectomy.

Nasal Flow of/a/,/i/,/?/and/n/,/?/Coarticulation for Male Adults / 听力学及言语疾病杂志

Objective To investigate acoustic characteristics of VC coarticulation for males in Mandarin . Methods This study compared nasal flow of 32 male adults'production which include /an/,/in/,/?n/,/a?/,/i?/,/??/,/a/,/i/,/?/.Results Whether /a /,/i/or /?/,the nasal flow of vowels before /n/was greater than the na-sal flow of vowels before /?/was greater than the nasal flow of vowels themselves .When produced solely ,the na-sal flow of /i/was greater than the nasal flow of /a/,/?/ .Before nasal consonants /n/,/?/ ,the nasal flow of /i/was greater than the nasal flow of /?/which was greater than the nasal flow of /a/.Conclusion Vowels before nasal consonants can be nasalized .The nasalization of /n/to vowel is greater than that of /?/to vowel .When nasals is produced around ,the nasalization of vowel depends on the height of the tongue .The nasal flow of vowels can be used as an effective measure and monitor the indicators before and after nasal coarticulatin .

The Study of the Fundamental Frequencies of Different Speech Materials for Normal Adults / 听力学及言语疾病杂志

Objective This study is to analyze the fundamental frequencies of different speech materials . Methods 60 normal subjects (22 males ,38 females) were studied .When pronouncing /a/,/i/,/u/and the short paragraphs ,the fundamental frequencies were measured using Praat software .Results The analysis of the funda‐mental frequencies for different materials indicates that /i/and /u/were the highest while /a/was the next and the paragraphs were the lowest .For males ,the fundamental frequencies from high to low were:148 .47 Hz ,146 .77 Hz ,136 .33 Hz ,and 132 .85 Hz ;for females ,they were:257 .39 Hz ,250 .52 Hz ,239 .43 Hz and 222 .16 Hz .The experimental results showed that there was no significant difference between the fundamental frequencies of vowels between the two genders but there were significant differences when pronouncing different vowels among the female subjects .Conclusion When measuring fundamental frequencies ,reading short paragraphs can be more accurate and the vowel /a/is more useful in this purpose .

The InfIuence of the Suffix VoweI on the Duration of VoiceIess Fricative S in Mandarin Chinese / 听力学及言语疾病杂志

Objective To find out the influence of different suffix vowel(abbreviation:SV) on the duration of/s/(a voiceless fricative) with acoustic detection method. Methods Two men and two women who were fluent in Mandarin Chinese were recruited in this study. The words included /s/and the suffix vowel /a/,/u/or/i/.The CSL4150 software from Kay Co. was used to analyze the words. Then we compared the durations of/s/when the suffix vowel was /a/,/i/and/u/,respectively. The influence of difference suffix vowel on the duration was exam_ined, and gender effects were also studied on the duration. ResuIts As a voiceless fricative, when the suffix vowel was /a/,the duration for males was 200. 2, and 276. 8 ms for females, respectively. When the suffix vowel was /i/, the duration for males was 218. 2, and 326. 5 ms for females, respectively. When the suffix vowel was /u/,the dura_tion for males was 214. 5, and 302. 9 ms for females, respectively. ConcIusion When the suffix vowel is different, the duration of stop, resistance and in number is different, and also affected by gender.

The Vowels Production by Children of 32 Months with Cochlear Implants / 听力学及言语疾病杂志

Objective To analyze implanted children's production of vowels and to investigate the features of vowels production .Methods Thirty CI children averaged 32 .65 ± 5 .97 months were enrolled in this study .Using 19 Chinese vowels as test materials ,accuracy rates were statistically analyzed to get the difficulty gradient and main error patterns .Results /a/and /e/were the easiest vowels and /üe/,/uai/,/ü/were the most difficult vowels for CI children .From the mouth shape of vowels ,the difficulty gradients from easy to difficult were open -mouths →e-ven-teeth → close-mouths → pursed -mouths .From the structures of vowels ,triphthongs were the most diffi-culty ,while single vowels and diphthongs shared the same difficulty level .High vowel's nasalization ,the deletion of diphthongs and triphthongs ,the separation of diphthongs and triphthongs and the substitution of /o/,/ü/,and /ai/were the main error patterns .Conclusion The difficulty levels of vowels'production for CI children at average age of 31 months are rather obvious .Compared with aided children ,they show some common developmental sequences and error patterns ,but also reflect their own characteristics .When in vowel articulation therapy for little CI children ,we should provide targeted training according to error patterns on the basis of following their sequences of difficulty level to fa-cilitate their efficiency .

Acoustic Analysis on Vowels of Mandarin for Adults with Spastic Dysarthria / 中国康复理论与实践

@#Objective To observe the characteristics of acoustic parameter of mandarin vowels in patients with spastic dysarthria and to explore the optimal mandarin vowel sample for the evaluation of acoustic characteristics of spastic dysarthria patients.MethodsTwenty-two male and six female patients with the age range from 19 to 62 years were recruited to patient group from the department of hearing and speech, China Rehabilitation Research Center. Another 28 normal subjects with comparable characteristics were recruited to control group. Computerized Speech Lab MODEL 4500 was employed to sample and to analyze the characteristics of the acoustic parameter. The data of the two groups were compared to detect the difference between groups.ResultsNo significances were found both between groups and within group in the fundamental frequency when pronouncing all the selected vowels. Significant difference was noticed between groups in the variation of both frequency and amplitude. Within the patient group significant difference was only found in the variation of amplitude when pronouncing all the selected vowels. Between groups, a significant difference was found in HNR (harmonic to noise ratio) when pronouncing vowel ［a］, whereas no significance was noticed in ［i］ and ［u］. Significances were noticed within the patient group among the vowels.ConclusionThe patient demonstrated greater variations in frequency, amplitude and noise component compared to control group. The vowel ［a］ is an appropriate examination variable for mandarin in China.

Gender difference in speech intelligibility using speech intelligibility tests and acoustic analyses

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare men with women in terms of speech intelligibility, to investigate the validity of objective acoustic parameters related with speech intelligibility, and to try to set up the standard data for the future study in various field in prosthodontics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty men and women were served as subjects in the present study. After recording of sample sounds, speech intelligibility tests by three speech pathologists and acoustic analyses were performed. Comparison of the speech intelligibility test scores and acoustic parameters such as fundamental frequency, fundamental frequency range, formant frequency, formant ranges, vowel working space area, and vowel dispersion were done between men and women. In addition, the correlations between the speech intelligibility values and acoustic variables were analyzed. RESULTS: Women showed significantly higher speech intelligibility scores than men and there were significant difference between men and women in most of acoustic parameters used in the present study. However, the correlations between the speech intelligibility scores and acoustic parameters were low. CONCLUSION: Speech intelligibility test and acoustic parameters used in the present study were effective in differentiating male voice from female voice and their values might be used in the future studies related patients involved with maxillofacial prosthodontics. However, further studies are needed on the correlation between speech intelligibility tests and objective acoustic parameters.

The effect of palatal height on the Korean vowels / 대한치과보철학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of palatal height on Korean vowels and speech intelligibility in Korean adults and to produce baseline data for future prosthodontic treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty one healthy Korean men and women who had no problem in pronunciation, hearing, and communication and had no history of airway disease participated in this study. Subjects were classified into H, M, and L groups after clinical determination of palatal height with study casts. Seven Korean vowels were used as sample vowels and subjects' clear speech sounds were recorded using Multispeech software program on computer. The F1 and the F2 of 3 groupswere produced and they were compared. In addition, the vowel working spaces of 3 groups by /a/, /i/, and /u/ corner vowels were obtained and their areas were compared. Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whiteny U test were used as statistical methods and P < .05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in formant frequencies among 3 groups except for the F2 formant frequency between H and L group (P = .003). In the analysis of vowel working space areas of 3 groups, the vowel working spaces of 3 groups were similar in shape and no significant differences of their areas were found. CONCLUSION: The palatal height did not affect vowel frequencies in most of the vowels and speech intelligibility. The dynamics of tongue activity seems to compensate the morphological difference.

An acoustic analysis on the pronunciation of Korean vowels in patient with class III malocclusion

The purpose of the study was to investigate the characteristics of the pronunciation of Korean vowels in patients with class III malocclusion. 11 adult male patients with class III malocclusion(mean ages 22.3 years) and four adult males with normal occlusion(mean ages 26.5 years) were selected for the analysis of eight Korean monophthongs /i, e, e, a, eo, o, eu, u/. The values and relationships of F1, F2 and F3 were derived from the stable section of target vowel in each sentence, and the analysis using formant plots and vowel triangles' distance and area was conducted to find the features of two groups' vowel distributions. Consequently, it was identified that the pronunciation of males patients with class III malocclusion showed high values of F1 in the low vowels, high values of F2 in the back vowels, and remarkably low position of /a/. The vowel triangle suggested that the triangle areas of male patients with class III malocclusion were shown wider vertically and narrower horizontally than those of males with normal occlusion. These characteristics could reflect the structural features of class III malocclusion such as the prognathic mandible, low tongue position, and advancement of back position of the tongue.

Value of acoustic perceptual method for analysis of compensatory articulation errors in postoperative patients with cleft palate / 西安交通大学学报·英文版

Objective: To establish an acoustic perceptual method analyzing the compensatory articulation errors in children with operated cleft palate via the formants of Chinese pure vowels. Methods: The first three formants which represent vocal transmission character in Chinese pure vowels of 84 subjects with operated cleft palate, were measured by Computerized Speech Signal Processing System (CSSPS). The Chinese vowel graph of postoperative patients with cleft palate was stated by the first formant frequencies (F1) and the second formant frequencies (F2) of the Chinese pure vowels between the two groups. Results: Values of F1 and F2 of vowels except [a] in the poor articulation group (Group A) were significantly different from those in the good articulation group (Group B) (P<0.05 or P< 0.01). As compared with that in Group B, the vowel graph demonstrated the decreased perceptual distances in Group A. These findings indicated that there might still be the backward movements of tongue, perverted mandibular movements and disharmonious lip movements in addition to the velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) in Group A. Conclusion: The speech articulation of children with repaired cleft palate should be gained by correcting the aberrant compensatory articulation errors in the condition of velopharyngeal competence. Computerized Speech Signal Processing System (CSSPS), which is regarded as the content of objective quantitative measurement, is a precise, simple, reliable and atroumatic technique for children with cleft palate to analyze pathological compensatory articulation errors.

Acoustic Analysis of Vowel Sound in Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the acoustic characteristics of the vowel phonation in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) and normal children METHOD: Twenty-six children with spastic diplegic CP and seventeen normally developed children were recruited as subjects. Voice samples were collected by pronouncing at full length /a/, /i/, and /u/ three times each into a microphone. With these samples, maximum phonation time using Multi-speech model 3,700, fundamental frequency, jitter percent, shimmer percent, noise to harmony ratio using Multi-Dimensional Voice Program model 5105, and 1st formant, 2nd formant using PraatTM were measured. RESULTS: Maximum phonation time was significantly shorterin the CP group than normal group (p<0.05). Jitter percent and Shimmer percent were significantly increased in the CP group than in the normal group (p<0.05). Fundamental frequency, 1st formant and 2nd formant were not significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Relatively short duration of maximum phonation time in the CP group suggests poor respiratory control and capacity in children with CP. Higher level of shimmer percent in CP group indicates instability of voice quality that result from poor laryngeal function. No significant difference in 1st formant and 2nd formant between the CP and control group suggests similar vowel articulatory ability.

Value of acoustic perceptual method for analysis of compensatory articulation errors in postoperative patients with cleft palate / 药物分析学报

Objective To establish an acoustic perceptual method analyzing the compensatory articulation errors in children with operated cleft palate via the formants of Chinese pure vowels. Methods The first three formants which represent vocal transmission character in Chinese pure vowels of 84 subjects with operated cleft palate, were measured by Computerized Speech Signal Processing System (CSSPS). The Chinese vowel graph of postoperative patients with cleft palate was stated by the first formant frequencies (F1) and the second formant frequencies (F2) of the Chinese pure vowels between the two groups. Results Values of F1 and F2 of vowels except [a] in the poor articulation group (Group A) were significantly different from those in the good articulation group (Group B) (P<0.05 or P<0.01). As compared with that in Group B, the vowel graph demonstrated the decreased perceptual distances in Group A. These findings indicated that there might still be the backward movements of tongue, perverted mandibular movements and disharmonious lip movements in addition to the velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) in Group A. Conclusion The speech articulation of children with repaired cleft palate should be gained by correcting the aberrant compensatory articulation errors in the condition of velopharyngeal competence. Computerized Speech Signal Processing System (CSSPS), which is regarded as the content of objective quantitative measurement, is a precise, simple, reliable and atroumatic technique for children with cleft palate to analyze pathological compensatory articulation errors.