This paper proposes a speech state-dependent spectral subtraction method to regulate the blind spectral subtraction for improved enhancement. In the proposed method, a modified subtraction rule is applied over the speech selectively contingent to the speech state being voiced or unvoiced, in an effort to incorporate the acoustic characteristics of phonemes. In particular, the objective of the proposed method is to remedy the subtraction induced signal distortion attained by two state-dependent procedures, spectrum sharpening and minimum spectral bound. In order to remove the residual noise, the proposed method employs a procedure utilizing the masking effect. Proposed spectral subtraction including state-dependent subtraction and residual noise reduction using the masking threshold shows effectiveness in compensation of spectral distortion in the unvoiced region and residual noise reduction.

In this paper a method to diagnose pathological voices using wavelet transform is sug gested. Pathological voices are collected from hospital and analyzed by the suggested method. Normal voices are collected separately and analyzed. Then the results are compared to find the differences in their characteristics. Three level wavelet transform is used. Normalized energy ratios between the levels and normalized peak-to-peak values are used as parameters. As a result, it was possible to distinguish between normal and pathological voices.

This paper deals with fuzzy correlation dimension for an appropriate speech recognition. The proposed fuzzy correlation dimension has absorbed time variation value of strange attractor as utilizing fuzzy membership function at calculation of integral correlation when the results of proposed dimension are applied to speech recognition fuzzed correlation dimension is superior to speech recognition, and correlation dimension is superior to speaker discrimination.

Speech signals are, depending on the characteristics of waveform, classified as voiced sound, unvoiced sound, and silence. Voiced sound, produced by an air flow generated by the vibration of the vocal cords, is quasi-periodic, while unvoiced sound, produced by a turbulent air flow passed through some constriction in the vocal tract, is noise-like. Silence represents the ambient noise signal during the absence of speech. The need for deciding whether a given segment of a speech waveform should be classified as voiced, unvoiced, or silence has arisen in many speech analysis systems. In this paper, a voiced/unvoiced/silence classification algorithm using spectral change in the wavelet transformed signal is proposed and then, experimental results are demonstrated with our discussions.

In this paper, a novel method of noise reduction of speech based on a complex adaptive noise canceler and method of optimal feature extraction are proposed. This complex adaptive noise canceler needs simply the noise detection, and LMS algorithm used to calculate the adaptive filter coefficient. The method of optimal feature extraction requires the variance of noise. The experimental results have shown that the proposed method effectively reduced noise in noisy speech. Optimal feature extraction has shown similar characteristics in noise-free speech.

The aim of this study is to develop an objectively method of speech evaluation for children with cleft palates. To assess velopharyngeal function, Visi-Pitch, Computerized Speech Lab. (CSL), Nasometer and Palatometer were used for this study. Acoustic parameters were measured depending on the diagnostic instruments: Pitch (Hz), sound pressure level (dB), jitter (%) and diadochokinetic rate by Visi-Pitch, VOT and vowels formant ($F_1\;&\;F_2$) by a Spectrography and the degree of hypernasality by Nasometer. In addition, Palatometer was used to find the lingual-palatal patterns of cleft palate. Ten children with cleft palates and fifty normal children participated in the experiment. The results are as follows: (1) Higher nasalance of children with cleft palates showed the resonance disorder. (2) The cleft palate showed palatal misarticulation and lateral misarticulation on the palatogram. (3) Children with cleft palates showed the phonatory and respiratory problems. The duration of sustained vowels in children with cleft palates was shorter than in the control groups. The pitch of children with cleft palates was higher than in the control groups. However, intensity, jitter and diadochokinetic rate of children with cleft palates were lower than in the control group. (4) On the Spectrogram, the VOT of children with cleft palates was longer than control group. $F_1\;&\;F_2$ were lower than in the control group.

The present study attempted to modify the conventional Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT) in three aspects: number of syllables of adjacent target utterances (ATU), melody patterns of ATU, and initial listening of melody and intoned speech with the eyes closed. The modified Melodic Intonation Therapy (MMIT) was applied to two severe Korean aphasics. The patients exhibited a severely nonfluent aphasia resulting from a left CVA(Cerebrovascular Accident). The purpose of the modification was to avoid perseveration and improve reflective listening skills. First, the treatment program avoided ATU with the same number of syllables. Second, four different patterns of melody were developed: rising type, falling type, V-type, and inverted V-type. One type of prosodic pattern was preceded and followed by another type of melody. These two variations were to decrease perseverative behaviors. Finally, the patients kept their eyes closed when the clinician played and hummed a target melody at the initial stage of the program in order to improve reflective listening skills. A single-subject alternating treatment design was used. The effects of MMIT were compared to the conventional MIT. Differing the number of syllables and the type of melodic patterns decreased perseverative behaviors and produced more correct names. The initial listening of the target melody with the patients' eyes closed seemed to increase their attentiveness and result in a more fluent production of target utterances. Probable reasons for the effectiveness of MMIT were discussed.

The human baby appears to be born with preexistent knowledge of language. This specialized neural structure in the brain awaits auditory experience with language to trigger it into functioning. The auditory-linked acquisition of language is a time-locked function related to early maturational periods in the infant's life. The longer auditory language stimulation is delayed, the less efficient the language facility will be. It is for these reasons that it is urgent to fight the hearing problems of children with all the skill, knowledge and insights of which we are capable, the so called 'rehabilitative process'. An understanding of the timetable and the origin of prenatal to early life development of auditory mechanism will help in planning the aural rehabilitation. Further interests and studies are needed to establish the systematic structure of rehabilitative audiology.

The aim of this study is to develop an the assessment program for the singing voice which is based on the physiological and acoustic methods. 22 sopranos, 6 mezzo sopranos, 4 tenors and 4 baritones participated to these experiments. The results measured by Visi-Pitch, spectrograph, and strobo-scope can be summarized as follows: (1) The maximum phonation time of singers must over 14 second higher with one deep inspiration (2) The parts classified by vocal range using Visi-Pitch: soprano between 167Hz $\sim$1,190Hz, mezzo soprano between 146Hz$\sim$956Hz, tenor between 75Hz$\sim$503Hz and baritone between 73 Hz and 385 Hz. (3) Longitudinal glottal size of singers decreases depending on the high-low pitch variation while lattitudinal glottal size increases depending on high-low pitch variation. (4) Well-trained singers show over 5 times the vibrato rate of untrained singers and regular pitch variation during measured periods. Vibrato's intensity do not over 3 dB. (5) Singer's formant indicates professional voice depending on the each parts: 3,207 Hz for soprano, 3,057 Hz for mezzo soprano, 2,754 Hz for tenor and 2,560 Hz for baritone.. (6) $F_1$ of singing voice is higher than that of speech while $F_2\;and\;F_3$ of singing voice are lower than those of speech.

In the previous studies, some characteristics of flaccid dysarthria patients have been studied mainly in two aspects: their difficulties in articulation and their metrical dysfunction. Therapeutic research on the articulation impediment of the patients have been carried out extensively (Yorkston, 1981). However, their phonetic characteristics have been less well-studied. The aim of this paper is to measure and describe some phonetic differences between the normal speaker group (six speakers) and the flaccid dysarthria patient group (six speakers in three different degreed of severity). Two types of short sentences comprising of subject-object-verb, i.e. declarative and yes-no question sentences, were recorded to investigate some phonetic characteristics of these two groups of speakers. The two groups (normal group vs. patient group) show differences in yes-no question boundary tone (H% vs. HL%), pitch range (wide vs. narrow), duration (short vs. long) and intensity (strong vs. weak) of sentence final verb endings in Korean.

An electroglottography (EGG) was used to investigate the function of the vocal folds during their vibration. In this study, four Korean native speakers and 10 vocal polyp patients were selected. To investigate the dynamic change of EGG waveforms for the three-way distinction of Korean stops, a DSP-Sona graph model 5500, a Rino- Laryngeal stroboscope, a CSL model 4300B and a Laryngograph were used. An EGG Model 4338 was used to exam the vocal polyp of patients' voices during high, low, comfortable pitch production. The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of Korean stop consonants in relation to pitch and to observe laryngeal movement during vocal fold vibration and speech production. The basic data accumulated during this research can be applied in clinical treatment. The results are as follows: on the Korean stop consonants, the aspirated stop is the highest in the GOT and PC1. On the angle of vowel contour, the angle of lenis is smaller than the angle of heavily aspirated and glottalized stops. The fundamental frequency is lowest at the lenis stop, In vocal polyp patients', the low pitch range is smaller than in normal speakers'. The pitch break and the vocal fry were observed. The jitter and OQ value are higher in vocal polyp patients than in those of normal speakers'.