Session Clinical Phonetics I:Clinical Phonetics I
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| Clinical Phonetics I-1 |
PROSODIC BOUNDARY IN THE SPEECH OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM
Susan Jean Evadne Peppe, Queen Margaret University Paper File |
| Expressive prosody is thought to be disordered in autism, and this study sets out to evaluate one aspect (prosodic boundary) to investigate how naïve judges rate utterances for atypicality; whether pitch and duration measurements in those utterances differ from those of typically-developing children; and whether children with autism can use prosodic boundary in speech for linguistic distinctions. Samples were drawn from children with language-delayed high-functioning autism (LD-HFA), with Asperger's syndrome (AS), and with typical development (TD). Results showed that naïve judges perceived children with LD-HFA as sounding more atypical than those with AS, who were marginally more atypical than those with TD. Measurements suggested those with LD-HFA had wider pitch-span than those with TD. The groups did not differ on linguistic functionality, and it is possible that factors other than prosody contributed to the perception of atypicality. | |
| Clinical Phonetics I-2 |
An acoustic analysis of vowels produced by Greek speakers with hearing impairment
Katerina Nicolaidis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Anna Sfakianaki, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Paper File |
| The study examines F1, F2 formant frequencies and duration of all five Greek vowels produced by six Greek speakers with profound hearing impairment and six speakers with normal hearing (three male and three female in each group). The speech material analysed was of the form /'pVCV/ where V=/ i, e, a, o, u /, C=/p, t, k, s/. The study discusses differences in the above acoustic parameters as a function of hearing level, gender, stress and context. The results show longer vowel durations and a reduction of the vowel space for the speakers with hearing impairment. Significant variability due to stress and context was evident between the two groups. The paper discusses findings with reference to perceptual constraints affecting the speech of individuals with hearing impairment. | |
| Clinical Phonetics I-3 |
Acoustic analysis of occlusive weakening in Parkinsonian French speech
Danielle DUEZ, CNRS Paper File |
| The current study was aimed at investigating some acoustic characteristics of Occlusive (O)-weakening in French Parkinsonian Speech (PS). Compared to Control Speech (CS), PS exhibit an increase in the reduction and assimilation of O’s to context. At the acoustic level this is reflected by a larger number of absent bursts, a decrease in energy, a change of O’s into their sonorant and fricative counterparts and omissions of speech sounds. In PS, the rigidity of muscles and the difficulty in initiating movements result in a decrease in the amplitude of speech gestures. O- weakning which is the consequence of PD production deficits appears to be influenced by the inherent-articulatory characteristics of consonants and is highly variable. | |