• Speech Sciences
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.51-67
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• 2006

This study examined the acoustic properties of initial stops in Korean, produced by Korean native speakers and English Korean learners. The productions of Korean native speakers were compared with those of beginners and advanced learners of Korean. Fundamental frequency(F0) and Voice Onset Time(VOT) were measured in condition of one or two syllable words, containing word-initial lenis, fortis, and aspirated stops. English Korean Learners showed that they produced stops with relatively shorter VOT and lower F0, compared with those of Korean native speakers. In case of the manner of articulation, English Korean learners have production difficulties in order of lenis stops, aspirated stops, and fortis stops. In regard to the place of articulation, English Korean learners showed production troubles in order of labial stops, velar stops, and alveolar stops. In the experiment of perception, it is hard for English Korean learners to distinguish stops of lenis and aspirated. Therefore, the results of production experiment were almost consistent with those of the perception experiment. Finally, according to both groups of proficiency, the results demonstrated that the advanced learners produce or perceive Korean stops easier than the beginners.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.19-28
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• 2009

This paper reports experimental findings about the duration feature of the acoustic components of English stops in Korean speakers' voicing perception. In our experiment, 35 participants discriminated between recorded stimuli and digitally transformed stimuli with different duration features from the original stimuli. 72 sets of paired stimuli are generated to test the effects of the duration feature in various phonetic contexts. The result of our experiment is a complicated cross-tabulation with 540 cells defined by five categorical independent variables plus one response variable. To find a meaningful generalization out of this complex frequency table, we ran logit log-linear regression analyses. Surprisingly, we have found that there is no single effect of the duration feature in all phonetic contexts on Korean speakers' perception of the voicing contrasts of English stops. Instead, the logit log-linear analyses reveal that there are interaction effects among phonetic contexts (=C), the places of articulation of stops (=P), and the voicing contrast (=V), and among duration (=T), phonetic contexts, and the places of articulation. To put it in mathematical terms, the distribution of the data can be explained by a simple log-linear equation, logF=${\mu}+{\lambda}CPV+{\lambda}TCP$.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.468-477
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• 2023

Background This article describes the development of the Myanmar Articulation, Resonation, Nasal Emission, and Nasal Turbulence test for children with cleft lip and palate (CLP), and evaluation of its validity and reliability. Methods It was created by three Thai researchers and a Burmese research assistant based on Burmese phonology. The content validity was evaluated by six Burmese language experts. All test items were divided into three groups: high-pressure oral consonants, low-pressure oral consonants, and nasal consonants. Results All items (58-word and 32-phrase/sentence) gave an excellent level of the expert agreement (item-level content validity indexes = 1.00). The target items were illustrated as color pictures. Each picture was clearly drawn and easy to identify. As a pilot study of face validity, all pictures were administered to 10 typical-developing children. The actual testing was assessed by 10 CLP children, and the developed test was analyzed through consultation of the Burmese teachers and interpreters from a speech camp. Testing scores for a total including three groups of target items were shown acceptable for internal consistency reliability (ranged from 0.4 to 0.88). Conclusion The constructed test is valid in terms of its content.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.37-47
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• 2022

The purpose of the this study is to observe the effects of healthy adults' age on temporal features of speech and identify which could differentiate older and young adults. We examined speech rates(i.e., overall speaking rate, articulation rate), occurrence of pause, and duration of pause per utterance by utilizing the National Institute of Korean Language's open corpus. We selected a total of 30 healthy adults (10 young, 10 middle-aged, and 10 older adults) in this study. There were significant differences among the groups in the overall speaking rate, articulation rate, total occurrence of pause, the occurrence of pause between syntactic words, total duration of pause, and duration of pause between syntactic words. The older and middle-aged adults showed slower speech rates and longer and more frequent pause than young adults. But there were no significant differences among the three groups in terms of pause within syntactic word. The overall speaking rate significantly differentiated older adults from young adults. These findings suggested that the effect of speakers' age was reflected in gradual changes in the temporal features of their speech.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.422-435
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• 2024

This study intended to verify the effects of face masks on the Korean language in terms of acoustic, aerodynamic, and formant parameters. We chose all types of face masks available in Korea based on filter performance and folding type. Two professional voice actors (a male and a female) with more than 20 years of experience who are native Koreans and speak standard Korean participated in this study as speakers of voice data. Face masks attenuated the high-frequency range, resulting in decreased Vowel Space Area (VSA) and Vowel Articulation Index (VAI)scores and an increased Low-to-High spectral ratio (L/H ratio) in all voice samples. This can result in lower speech intelligibility. However, the degree of increment and decrement was based on the voice characteristics. For female speakers, the Speech Level (SL) and Cepstral Peak Prominence (CPP) increased with increasing face mask thickness. In this study, the presence or filter performance of a face mask was found to affect speech acoustic parameters according to the speech characteristics. Face masks provoked vocal effort when the vocal intensity was not sufficiently strong, or the environment had less reverberance. Further research needs to be conducted on the vocal efforts induced by face masks to overcome acoustic modifications when wearing masks.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.93-109
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• 2007

It is reported that the orthognathic patients suffer from not only aesthetic problems but also resonance disorder and articulation disorder because of the abnormality of the oral cavity. This study was designed to investigate the resonance of nasality and the intelligibility of speech for acoustic characteristics of patients' speech before and after orthognatic surgery. 8 orthognathic patients participated in the study. The nasality of words containing Korean consonants, Korean consonants and frequency and intensity of the fricative /s/ were measured using Nasometer and CSL (Computerized Speech Lab). Results were as follows: First, the nasality of post orthognathic surgery patients decreased in spontaneous speech. There was a significant difference in the nasality for all words between pre and post orthognatic surgery patients. Second, the nasality of each Korean consonant phoneme of post orthognathic surgery patients decreased. There was also a significant difference of the nasality for each Korean consonant phoneme between pre and post orthognatic surgery patients. Third, the decreased nasality for Korean consonant phonemes showed in plosives, affricates, fricatives, liquids, and nasals after surgery. But the significant difference showed only in plosives and fricatives. Finally, frequency and intensity for the fricative /s/ of post orthognathic patients increased.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.1-7
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• 2021

Speech is a spatiotemporally coordinated structure of constriction actions at discrete articulators such as lips, tongue tip, tongue body, velum, and glottis. Like other human movements (e.g., reaching), each action as a linguistic task is completed by a synergy of involved basic elements (e.g., bone, muscle, neural system). This paper discusses how speech tasks are dynamically related to joints as one of the basic elements in terms of robotics of speech production. Further this introduction of robotics to speech sciences will hopefully deepen our understanding of how speech is produced and provide a solid foundation to developing a physical talking machine.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.741-747
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• 2007

Purpose: In order to determine the differences in speech outcome based on timing of operation in submucous cleft palate, we have reviewed our experiences in the Furlow palatoplasty over the last 11 years. Methods: From March 1996 to March 2006, 38 submucous cleft palate patients received Furlow palatoplasty. 10 developmentally delayed patients were excluded and 5 patients were lost to follow up. The rest 23 patients were reviewed. Speech was evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively, and speech therapy was performed accordingly. Perceptual speech assessment included hypernasality, nasal emission and articulation disorder. Cinefluorography was performed to aid perceptual assessment. Based on timing of operation, the patients were divided into 3 groups as following: Group A under 24 months(8 patients), Group B from 25 to 48 months(6 patients), and Group C over 49 months (9 patients). Except 1 patient under speech therapy yet, resultant speech was compared. 200707Results: The rate of abnormal speech was higher in Group C(3/9, 33.3%) than in Group A(0%) or B(0%). All 3 patients who had been discontinued of speech therapy from the parent's judgment had abnormal speech. The reason for the discontinuation was that the regular speech therapy was a burden at school age. Any patients who had continued speech therapy had normal speech. Conclusion: The results of our study shows that operative timing is associated with speech development. Maintenance of speech therapy was an important factor for normal speech development. It will be helpful to perform a palatoplasty before 48 months of age to complete speech therapy before the school age.

• 대한두경부종양학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.80-84
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• 2007

Background and Objectives : The radial forearm free flap is a useful reconstructive method of surgical defects after oral and oropharyngeal tumor resection. We evaluated the swallowing and speech outcomes of radial forearm free flap reconstruction for oral and oropharyngeal cancers. Materials and Methods : We retrospectively reviewed clinical data of 84 patients who underwent reconstructive surgery for oral or oropharyngeal cancer using radial forearm free flap from August 1994 to January 2007. Modified barium swallowing (MBS) was done in 100 patients and speech-language assessment was done in 23 patients by a speech-language pathologist. Results were analyzed according to the swallowing functions and the speech-language assessments. Results : According to the results of MBS which was done postoperatively, aspiration occurred in three patients and velopharyngeal insufficiency occurred in four patients who had been reconstructed with multilobed free flap due to large mucosal defects. There was one patient who exhibited severe articulation impairment out of 23 patients. However, 19 patients out of 23 patients showed excellent intelligibility in speech. Conclusion : We concluded that the radial forearm free flap technique is an excellent reconstructive method for the restoration of palatal and pharyngeal function in oral and oropharyngeal cancer patients.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.468-473
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• 2011

Speech may not be clearly understandable in the room that is highly reverberant, due to the loss of consonants intelligibility. Therefore, it is very important to obtain a high sound pressure level of direct sound in reverberant room. A properly designed sound reinforcement system can not provide the good speech intelligibility without the absorption treatments of walls. With using the highly directional speaker, we can transmit the sound energy into only the areas where people are sitting. This can be help to improve the speech intelligibility. In this paper, even in reverberant rooms, it will be shown that the good speech intelligibility can be obtained by only the directivity control of speaker without the room treatment. Also, it would be more improved by the properly room tuning using an equalizer.