A Simulation Study of the Vocal Tract in Tracheoesophageal Speaker

  • Kim, Cheol-Soo (Depart. of Otolaryngology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University) ;
  • Wang, Soo-Geun (Depart. of Otolaryngology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University) ;
  • Roh, Hwan-Jung (Depart. of Otolaryngology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University) ;
  • Goh, Eui-Kyung (Depart. of Otolaryngology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University) ;
  • Chon, Kyong-Myong (Depart. of Otolaryngology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University) ;
  • Lee, Byung-Joo (Depart. of Otolaryngology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University) ;
  • Kwon, Soon-Bok (Depart. of Otolaryngology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University) ;
  • Lee, Suck-Hong (Depart. of Diagnostic Radiology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University) ;
  • Kim, Hak-Jin (Depart. of Diagnostic Radiology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University) ;
  • Yang, Byung-Gon (Depart. of English, College of Humanities, Dongeui University)
  • Published : 2000.09.01

Abstract

The vocal tract shapes were measured from tracheoesophageal speakers during the sustained phonation of five Korean vowels /u/, /o/, /a/, /e/, /i/ using magnetic resonance image(MRI). The subject's original vowel utterances with speech intelligibility and the synthesized vowels from MR images were analyzed. The results were as follows: (1) The vowels /a/, /e/, /i/ were perceived as the same sounds of actual subject's speech, but the vowels /o/ and /u/ were perceived as /$\partial$/ and strained /u/, respectively. (2) The synthesized vowels /a/ and /e/ from the MR images were perceived as the same sounds, but the vowels /u/, /o/, /i/ were perceived as different sounds. (3) The synthesized vowel by the expanded pharyngeal segment of 3 times in vowel /o/ was perceived as more natural than that of 2 times. The pharyngeal areas with varied sizes should be experimented to secure better speech production because the correct shapes of the vocal tract lead to distinct vowel production.

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