Towards an inclusive system for the annotation of (dis)fluency in typical and atypical speech.

This paper presents an operational annotation system for (dis)fluencies in typical and atypical speech, based on existing standard annotation schemes previously established in the literature. Grounded in a functional approach to (dis)fluency, we address some of the conceptual and technical limitations found in previous annotation models, and offer an integrated and inclusive system which is compatible with different multi-layered annotation software such as Praat or ELAN. Our aim is twofold: to create comparable annotated corpora both in typical and atypical speech, and to provide natural language processing and the health sector with applications for diagnostic and therapy in speech disorders.

An articulatory study of differences and similarities between stuttered disfluencies and non-pathological disfluencies.

While stuttering-like disfluencies have long interested researchers, little is known about their articulatory realisation. Yet, such a description seems crucial in order to better understand the differences between stuttering-like and other disfluencies, and their underlying motor mechanisms. Hence, we aimed to compare the articulatory supraglottic activity in stuttered disfluencies with non-pathological disfluencies by using Electromagnetic Articulography (EMA) data. To achieve this comparison, two criteria were used for the description of articulatory activity during the disfluency. The first focused on the characterisation of the movements observable during the disfluency. This criterion gives an indication of the presence or absence of articulatory movement as well as interarticulator coupling. The second criterion provided information on the retention and anticipation of the sound preceding and following the disfluency. In order to strengthen our analysis, both criteria were examined using two complementary methodologies. The first was an expert-based analysis, while the second used a set of metrics based on velocity and acceleration. These analyses were conducted independently, and the final results of our study corresponded to the conclusions of the comparison of both methodology results. The results we obtained show that stuttered disfluencies and non-pathological disfluencies do have common characteristics. However, stuttered disfluencies and non-pathological disfluencies produced by Persons Who Stutter (PWS) present some particularities, mainly in terms of retention and anticipation, and the presence of spasmodic movements. Results are discussed in the light of different models of stuttering.

A two-case study of coarticulation in stuttered speech. An articulatory approach.

This study aims to describe the coarticulatory behaviour in stuttered speech from an articulatory point of view. Its purpose is to assess the nature of transitions between a stuttered phone and preceding and subsequent phones. Two persons who stutter were recorded by means of an electromagnetic articulograph while reading a text. The vertical movements of upper and lower lips, tongue body, tongue tip and mandible were extracted. They were then analysed during a stuttering moment and linked to the acoustic type of disfluency. Our findings showed several configurations of coarticulatory behaviour in terms of supraglottic articulatory movements. While disfluencies can be the result of a disrupted coarticulatory configuration, no systematicity has been found. Moreover, all acoustic types of disfluencies are represented in several coarticulatory configurations. Therefore, a stuttering-like disfluency is not always due to a coarticulatory disturbance, since correct coarticulatory patterns can be observed both between the disfluent sound and its previous and subsequent sounds. Furthermore, they suggest that the acoustic classification of disfluencies does not seem important for the coarticulatory behaviour.