• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.9-21
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• 2019

This study aimed to compare the prosodic characteristics of North Korean defectors and South Koreans in three types of sentences (declarative, interrogative, and negative) in two reading tasks (short and dialogue) through acoustic analysis and auditory-perceptual evaluation. In addition, this study examined the relationship between the auditory-perceptual evaluation scores and self-assessment questionnaires on intonation for North Korean defectors. The participants were 15 North Korean defectors and 15 Korean speakers with standard Seoul accents. For statistical analysis, three-way mixed ANOVA and multivariate analysis were performed within the three types of sentences in the reading tasks through acoustic analysis and the Mann-Whitney U Test for auditory-perceptual evaluation. Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficients were also used to identify the correlations between the results of the self-assessment questionnaire on intonation and the auditory-perceptual evaluation. The North Korean defectors were found to have a significantly lower pitch range and auditory-perceptual evaluation score than South Koreans in reading tasks. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between their auditory-perceptual evaluations and self-assessment questionnaires on intonation. The study findings suggest that North Korean defectors, who face many challenges with intonation, showed a tendency to think that their intonation differed from the standard Korean intonation and showed better auditory evaluation results for interrogative sentences.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.55-66
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• 2021

Proper prosody in reading allows the reader to naturally convey the meaning, which manifests as changes in pitch, loudness, and speech rate. Children with reading disability face difficulty in delivering information due to poor prosody. This study identified the difference in prosodic features between children with reading disabilities and nondisabled children through means of reading tasks. Reading tasks, according to sentence types (short sentences, assumptions/conditions, intentions, relative-clause), were recorded by 15 children studying in the 3rd to 6th grade in elementary school. Children with reading disability had a statistically significant wider range of pitch, slower speech rate, more frequent usage of pauses, longer total pause duration, and steeper pitch slope than nondisabled one in sentence-final and -medial words. Children with reading disability, therefore, exhibited a less natural and expressive reading than nondisabled children. Through this study, the characteristics of prosody observed in children with reading disability were identified and the need for an approach for effective intervention was also suggested.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.77-87
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• 2019

The study aimed to develop Speech Range Profile (SRP) and to examine and validate its clinical application. Forty-five participants without voice disorders aged 18-29 years were compared using SRP and Voice Range Profile (VRP). The authors developed the "Fire!" paragraph as a SRP task compromising 14 sentences including all Korean spoken phonemes and sentence types. To compare SRP and VRP results, the participants read the paragraph (reading) and counted from 21 to 30 (counting) as a part of SRP tasks, and produced a vowel /a/ from low to high frequencies (gliding) and a shortened form of the VRP as a part of VRP tasks. $F0_{max}$, $F0_{min}$, $F0_{range}$, $I_{max}$, $I_{min}$, and $I_{range}$ for each task were measured and compared, showing that $F0_{max}$, $F0_{min}$, $F0_{range}$, $I_{max}$, and $I_{range}$ were not different between reading and gliding. $I_{min}$, had the lowest value in counting. It is concluded that the newly developed SRP task, reading the "Fire" paragraph, can yield a maximum phonation range similar to that found by VRP. Therefore, it is expected that voice evaluation can be effectively performed in a relatively short time by applying SRP with the "Fire" paragraph, a functional utterance task, in place of VRP, which may be difficult to measure long term or in cases of severe voice disorders.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.49-55
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• 2019

This study sought to investigate whether mean speaking fundamental frequency (SFF) can be predicted by parameters of voice and speech range profile (VRP and SRP) in Korean normal adults. Moreover, it explored whether gender differences exist in the absolute differences between the SFF and estimated SFF (ESFF) predicted by the VRP and SRP. A total of 85 native Korean speakers with normal voice participated in the study. Each participant was asked to perform the VRP task using the vowel /a/ and the SRP task using the first sentence of a Korean standard passage "Ga-eul". In addition, the SFF was measured with electroglottography during a passage reading task. Predictive factors of the SFF were explored and the absolute difference between the SFF and the ESFF (DSFF) was compared between gender groups. Results indicated that predictive factors were age, gender, minimum pitch and pitch range for the VRP (adjusted $R^2=.931$), and pitch range (in semi-tones) and maximum pitch for the SRP (adjusted $R^2=.963$), respectively. The SFF and ESFF predicted by the VRP and SRP showed a strong positive correlation. The DSFF of the VRP and SRP, as well as their sum did not differ by gender. In conclusion, the SFF during a passage reading task could be successfully predicted by the parameters of the VRP and SRP tasks. In further studies, clinical implications need to be explored in patients who may exhibit deviations in SFF.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.87-93
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• 2021

There are a number of voice analysis programs around the world. Domestic voice analysis is performed by relying heavily on specific commercial program. We intend to develop coding for voice analysis using Praat and apply it to clinical practice. This study consisted of Experiment 1 and Experiment 2. Experiment 1 was the development of automated voice analysis coding based on Praat. The coding was largely divided into a recording, an analysis, and a storage section. Experiment 2 was applied to the voice analysis of 2 male patients pre- and post-operation with this coding. The analysis parameters of this coding provided 26 parameters for vowel /a/, nine parameters for sentence analysis, and a total of 4 parameters for voice range profile analysis. In two male patients, the pitch and the intensity increased, the voice quality improved, and the sentence length decreased after surgery. The coding was well made, so the output was good in real time. The code is automated as much as possible to block manual errors and increases convenience and efficiency by generating the result sheet in real time.

• 재활복지
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.157-168
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of semi-closed vocal training-based Vocal Aerobic Treatment on the voice improvement of soprano. Study subject was one soprano who appealed to the suffering of her voice problem due to vocal cord nodule. A study method of conducting pre/post acoustic evaluation and subjective voice evaluation to compare the measures was used; Vocal Aerobic Treatment was carried out twice a week for a total of 32 session. In the acoustic evaluation, MDVP (multi-dimensional voice program) and VRP (voice range profile) were used to evaluate the pitch, voice quality, and voice range; in the subjective voice evaluation, SVHI (singing voice handicap index) was used to assess voice satisfaction. As a result of the pitch evaluation, the soprano maintained a proper Fo. As a result of the voice quality evaluation, the jitter, shimmer, and the noise harmonic ratio numbers decreased compared to the numbers shown before the treatment. As a result of the voice range evaluation, the scope of the range was broadened, with the number of semitone increasing from 30 to 35. As for the subjective voice evaluation, the result of the total score obtained after the survey report divided by the number of questions showed a decrease from 3.6 to 0.6. The soprano herself reported of having a minor extent of a voice problem. The summary of the above results reflects that Vocal Aerobic Treatment is useful in the voice improvement of vocalists However, as this study is case research regarding the Vocal Aerobic Treatment effect on one soprano, further research on the treatment effect covering many other vocalists is necessary. Also, there is a need for follow-up studies regarding voice management and voice treatment program on not only the vocalists but also the voice users in many other professions.