• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.517-523
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• 2000

Nasopharyngeal closure is a sphincter mechanism between the activities of the soft palate, lateral pharyngeal wall and the posterior pharyngeal wall, which divides the oral cavity and the nasal cavity. It participates in physiological activities such as swallowing, breathing and pronunciation. In case of an error in this mechanism, it is called a nasopharyngeal incompetence. The causes of this error are defects in (1) length, function, posture of the soft palate (2) depth and width of the nasopharynx, (3) activity of the posterior and lateral pharyngeal wall. The purpose of this study is to analyze the nasopharynx of cleft palate patients using lateral cephalograms and at the same time, evaluate the degree of hypernasality of each vowels to find its relationship with nasopharyngeal incompetence. The following results were obtained: 1. The length of the soft palate was markedly short than normal. 2. The adequate ratio was smaller than the normal value. 3. As the adequate ratio decreased, when articulating vowels, anatomic mVPI increased. 4. When articulating each vowels, anatomic VPI was in proportion with the degree of hypernasality. 5. The degree of hypernasality was greater in high vowels(/i/, /u/) than low vowel(/a/). From the above results, it can be concluded that in cleft palate patients, lateral cephalograms can be used effectively in diagnosing and evaluating nasopharyngeal incompetence. The anatomic structure of the nasopharynx has close relation to the degree of hypernasality.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.25
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• pp.775-798
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• 2011

From Post-Modern Edo-language of Japan, it is possible to find expression formats related to current Tokyo language. However, in some cases, Tokyo language and Edo-language has the same format but different usage. One example is the ending portion of a sentence. This research investigates conclusive expressions of Edo-language in literary works excluding the usage of "ダ". Various formats of conclusive expressions appear in a conversation, and the usage is closely related to the speaker's sex, age, and social status. Also from the study, it was possible to see that the social relationship between a speaker and a listener and a conversation circumstance has an effect on the usage of conclusive expressions. In addition, usage does not conform to the current standard Japanese. 1. Currently "である(dearu)" format is seldom used in speaking, it is used with "だ" only in writing. The study found no case of "である(dearu)" in conclusive expressions but some use of "であろうて(dearoute) であらうな(dearouna)" "であったのう(deattanou) であったよ(deattayo)" only in old aged male. 2. "であります(dearimasu)" format is a typical Edo-language used by society-women (Japanese hostess who has a good education and an elegant speaking skills). This format was used once in "浮世風呂"(ukiyoburo) and 14 times in "梅?"(umegoyomi), but speakers were always a female. The reason for 14 occurrences in "梅?" is closely related to the fact that the main characters are society-women and genre is "人情本(ninjoubourn)" which is popular type of cultural literature (based on humanity and romance) in late Edo period. 3. "でござる" format is originally used as a respect-language but later changed to a polite language. The format is always used by male. It is a male language used by old aged people with a genteel manner such as a medical doctor, a retired man, or a funny-song writer. 4. "ございます(gozaimasu) ごぜへます(gozeemasu)" The study found the speaker's social status has a connection with the use of "ごぜへます(gozeemasu)" format. Which is "ございます(gozaimasu)" format but instead of [ai], long vowel [eː] is used. "ごぜへます(gozeemasu)" is more used by a female than a male and only used by young and mid-to-low class people. The format has a tough nuance and less elegant feel, therefore high class and/or educated ladies have a clear tendency to avoiding it

• 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.13 no.2
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• pp.91-101
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to investigate laryngeal characteristics in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A total of 50 children participated, including eight children aged 2 to 4 years old diagnosed with ASD and 42 normal controls at the same age. All children recorded X-ray images of the midsagittal plane of the cervical spine and larynx, and compared the laryngeal positions of ASD and control. In addition, samples of children with vowel prolongation were collected and analyzed for acoustic parameters. X-rays showed that the height of the hyoid bone in the normal group was the lowest at 3 years of age, and ascended at 4 years of age. Nevertheless, the distance from the external acoustic meatus to the hyoid bone was longest at age 4. 4-year-olds with explosive language development showed laryngeal height elevation and anteriorization. In contrast, the hyoid height of the ASD group of all ages was lower than that of the control group, and there was no difference in the hyoid position between the ages. As a result of acoustic evaluation, PFR, vFo, and vAm were significantly higher ASD than control. Low laryngeal height of ASD children may be associated with delayed language development. PFR, vFo, and vAm seem to be voice markers showing the difference between normal and ASD children.