• 센서학회지
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• 제28권5호
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• pp.299-304
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• 2019

Recently, the development of rehabilitation medical technology has resulted in an increased interest in speech therapy equipment. In particular, research on articulation therapy for communication disorders is being actively conducted. Existing methods for the diagnosis and treatment of speech disorders have many limitations, such as traditional tactile perception tests and methods based on empirical judgment of speech therapists. Moreover, the position and tension of the tongue are key factors of speech disorders with regards to articulation. This is a very important factor in the distinction of Korean characters such as lax, fortis, and aspirated consonants. In this study, we proposed a Korean electropalatography (EPG) system to easily measure and monitor the position and tension of the tongue in articulation treatment and diagnosis. In the proposed EPG system, a sensor was fabricated using an AgCl electrode and biocompatible silicon. Furthermore, the measured signal was analyzed by implementing the bio-signal processing module and monitoring program. In particular, the bio-signal was measured by inserting it into the palatal from an experimental control group. As a result, it was confirmed that it could be applied to clinical treatment in speech therapy.

• 말소리와 음성과학
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.3-8
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• 2015

Denasalization that nasals are replaced by stops is an unusual error pattern related to manner of articulation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence of denasalization and to scrutinize the nasal production according to phonological context for typically developing children and children with speech sound disorders(SSD). 220 typically developing children and 48 SSD children from 2~6 years of age were tested with a formal word test, and those who demonstrate denasalization were selected. In addition, the nasal production of SSD children with denasalization were analyzed for the correctness and the error types using the formal word test and spontaneous conversation. The results were as follows: (1) Denasalization was shown in below 10% of 2-3 years of age with typically developing children and in above 20% of 2-5 years of age with SSD. (2) The SSD children who demonstrate denasalization were categorized into 4 types according to the error context of nasals; nasal errors with all word positions, nasal errors with word-final and word-medial positions, nasal errors with word-medial position preceding vowels, and nasal errors with word-medial position preceding obstruents. These results indicate that denasalization is a clinically important error pattern, and word-medial position preceding obstruents is an essential context for denasalization in terms of Korean phonotactics.

• 말소리와 음성과학
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.85-95
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• 2020

아동이 산출하는 말소리를 평가할 때 단어와 문장을 유도하여 산출한 말소리를 분석하고, 자발화를 이용하여 분석하기도 한다. 단어 검사와 자발화 검사의 한계를 보완할 수 있는 평가 방법으로 문장 따라말하기 과제가 있다. 문장 따라말하기 과제를 통한 아동의 말소리 평가는 자발화와 유사한 특성을 보이면서 단어와 같이 제한된 시간 안에 다양한 음소를 평가할 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 다양한 모음문맥에서 자음을 배치하고 모든 음소가 3회 이상의 출현 기회를 가질 수 있도록 계획된 11개의 문장 따라말하기를 통해 연령과 성별에 따라서 단어단위 음운지표와 개정자음정확도의 발달을 살펴보았다. 전국에 거주하는 3세부터 7세까지 아동 535명을 대상으로 UTAP2에 새롭게 포함된 11개 문장 따라말하기 과제를 실시하였다. 말소리발달을 평가할 수 있는 지표 PCC-R, PWC, PMLU, PWP을 구하였다. 아동은 연령별 6개월 단위로 10개의 집단을 구분하고 각 지표에 대해 연령집단과 성별에 따른 차이를 분석하였다. 연구 결과, 모든 지표에서 연령이 증가함에 따라 수치가 상승하였으며 연령집단 간 차이는 유의하였다. 성별에 따른 차이와 연령과 성별의 상호작용효과는 유의하지 않은 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구는 전국에서 자료를 수집하였고, 연령집단을 6개월로 나누어 보았으며, 집단별 데이터를 충분히 수집하였다는 점과 단어와 자발화 검사의 한계점을 보완할 수 있는 문장 따라말하기라는 새로운 말소리 평가 방법의 연령별 준거 자료를 제시하였다는 측면에서 의의가 있다.

• 음성과학
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• 제8권2호
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• pp.23-37
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• 2001

The primary sound produced by the vibration of vocal folds reaches the velopharyngeal isthmus and is directed both nasally and orally. The proportions of the each component is determined by the anatomical and functional status of the soft palate. The oral sounds composed of oral vowels and consonants according to the status of vocal tract, tongue, palate and lips. The nasal sounds composed of nasal consonants and nasal vowels, and further modified according to the status of the nasal airway, so anatomical abnormalities in the nasal cavity will influence nasal sound. The measurement of nasal sounds of speech has relied on the subjective scoring by listeners. The nasal sounds are described with nasality and nasalization. Generally, nasality has been assessed perceptually in the effect of maxillofacial procedures for cleft palate, sleep apnea, snoring and nasal disorders. The nasalization is considered as an acoustic phenomenon. Snoring and sleep apnea is a typical disorders due to abundant velopharynx. The sleep apnea has been known as a cessation of breathing for at least 10 seconds during sleep. Several medical and surgical methods for treating sleep apnea have been attempted. The uvulopalatopharyngoplasty(UPPP) involves removal of 1.0 to 3.0 cm of soft palate tissue with removal of redundant oropharyngeal mucosa and lateral tissue from the anterior and sometimes posterior faucial pillars. This procedure results in a shortened soft palate and a possible risk following this surgery may be velopharyngeal malfunctioning due to the shortened palate. Few researchers have systematically studied the effects of this surgery as it relates to speech production. Some changes in the voice quality such as resonance (nasality), articulation, and phonation have been reported. In view of the conflicting reports discussed, there remains some uncertainty about the speech status in patients following the snoring and sleep apnea surgery. The study was conducted in two phases: 1) acoustic analysis of oral and nasal sounds, and 2) evaluation of nasality.

• 음성과학
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• 제8권4호
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• pp.131-138
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• 2001

Sound pressure level, subglottic air pressure, vital capacity, adduction/abduction rate, and phonatory efficiency were measured in 19 opera singers, 17 Korean traditional 'Pansori' singers, and 20 non-singers; subjects' mean age was 25.9(SD=7.2) and the singers had been singing professionally for 5-10 years. One-way ANOVA and Scheff$\w'{e}$ post-hoc analysis were used to analyze aerodynamic data and to identify significant differences among groups. Sound pressure level, peak subglottic air pressure, and phonatory efficiency were found to be significantly different among three groups of the subjects. Differences in aerodynamic properties were discussed for their significance in diagnosis and treatment of voice disorders in professional singers.

• 음성과학
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.59-67
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to investigate Korean native speakers' perception of English sounds according to groupings of phonetic contrasts. The four groupings looked at were vowels, voicing (voiced-unvoiced), fricatives with difference in place of articulation, and other clusters of specific sound contrasts, such as stop-fricatives and liquids. The position of a sound in syllable was also examined. According to the results of ANOVA and a post-hoc analysis, the perception of vowels, in the medial position was different from that of consonants in the initial and final position. Vowels proved to be the most difficult group to perceive correctly. With the consonants, there was not a big difference whether the contrasts came initially or finally. The order of difficulty was liquids, fricatives, stop-fricatives, and finally voicing.

• 대한후두음성언어의학회지
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.33-42
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• 2012

Background and Objectives : Dysarthria refers to speech disorder that causes difficulties in speech communication due to paralysis, muscle weakening, and incoordination of speech muscle mechanism caused by damaged central or peripheral nerve system. Pitch, strength and speed are influenced by dysarthria during detonation due to difficulties in muscle control. As evaluation items, alternate motion rate and diadochokinesis have been commonly used, and articulation is also an important evaluation items. The purpose of this study is to find acoustic characteristics on sound production of dysarthria patients. Materials and Methods : Research subjects have been selected as 20 dysarthria patients and 20 subjects for control group, and voice sample was composed of bilabial, alveolar sound, and velar sound in diadochokinetic rate, while consonant articulation test was composed of bilabial plosive, alveolar plosive, velar plosive. Analysis items were composed of 1) speaking rate, energy, articulation time of diadochokinesis, 2) voice onset time (VOT), total duration (TD), vowel duration (VD), hold of plosives. Results and Conclusions : The number of diadochokinetic rate of dysarthria was smaller than control group. Both control group and dysarthria group was highly presented in the order of /t/>/p/>/k/. Minimum energy range per cycle during diadochokinetic rate of dysarthria group was smaller than control group, and presented statistical significance in /p/, /k/, /ptk/. Maximum energy range was larger than control group, and presented statistical significance in /t/, /ptk/. Articulation time, gap, total articulation time during diadochokinetic rate of dysarthria group was longer than control group and presented statistical significance. The articulation time was presented in both control group and dysarthria group in the order of /k/>/t/>/p/, while Gap was presented in the order of /p/>/t/>/k/ for control group and /p/>/k/>/t/ for dysarthria group. VOT, TD, VD regarding plosives of dysarthria group were longer than control group. Hold showed large deviation compared to control group that had appeared due to declined larynx and articulation organ motility.

• 대한후두음성언어의학회지
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.122-128
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• 2007

This study aims to analyze the voices of the patients with voice disorders including vocal fold paralysis, vocal fold cyst and vocal nodule/polyp in the aspect of acoustic phonetics. This study intends to collect subsidiary acoustic data in order to make a speech treatment and an standardization of vocal disorders. Subjects and Methods: The subjects of this study were 64 adult patients who underwent indirect laryngoscopy and laryngostroboscopy, and were diagnosed as vocal fold paralysis, vocal fold cyst or vocal nodule/polyp. Experimental group consisted of 20 patients who were diagnosed as vocal fold paralysis, 21 patients who were diagnosed as vocal fold cyst and had the average age of 42.0 $({\pm}10.03)$ ; and 23 patients who were diagnosed as vocal nodule/polyp and had the average age of 40.9 $({\pm}13.75)$. For the methodology of this study, the patients listed above were asked to sit in a comfortable position at intervals of 10cm apart from the patient's mouth and a microphone, and subsequently to phonate a vowel sound /e/ for the maximum phonation time with natural tone and vocal volume then the sound was directly inputted on a computer. During recording, sampling rate was set to 44,100Hz and the 1-second area corresponding to stable zone except the first and the last stage of waveform of the vowel sound /e/ vocalized by the individual patients was analyzed. Results: First, there was no statistically significant difference in jitter and shimmer between vocal fold paralysis and vocal fold cyst, while there was highly statistically significant difference in them between vocal fold paralysis and vocal nodule/polyp. Second, looking into the mean values obtained from NNE, HNR and SNR results associated with noise ratio, the disease showing the most abnormal characteristics was vocal fold paralysis, followed by cyst and nodule/polyp in order. For NNE, there was statistically significant difference between vocal nodule/polyp, and cyst or paralysis. In other words, it was found that the NNE of vocal nodule/polyp was weaker than that of cyst or paralysis. Similarly, HNR and SNR also showed the same characteristics; there was statistically significant difference between vocal fold paralysis and vocal fold cyst or nodule/polyp, and HNR and SNR values of vocal fold paralysis were lower than those of vocal fold cyst or nodule/polyp. Conclusion: For vocal fold paralysis, the abnormal values of acoustic parameters associated with frequency, amplitude and noise ratio were statistically significantly higher than those of vocal fold cyst and nodule/polyp. This finding suggests that the voices of the patients with vocal fold paralysis are the most severely injured due to less stability of vocal fold movement, asymmetry and incomplete glottic closure. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference in the acoustic parameters of tremor among vocal fold paralysis, vocal fold cyst and vocal nodule/polyp. Further studies need to ascertain reasonable acoustic parameters with various vocal disorders as well as to clarify the correlation between acoustics-based objective tools and subjective evaluations.

• 대한후두음성언어의학회지
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• 제33권2호
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• pp.64-76
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• 2022

Praat is a useful analysis tool for linguists, engineers, doctors, speech-language pathologits, music majors, and natural scientists. Basic parameters including duration, pitch, energy and perturbation parameters such as jitter and shimmer can be easily measured and manipulated in the sound editor. When a more in-depth analysis is needed, it is recommended to understand the advanced menus of the object window and learn how to use them. Among the object window menus, vowel formant analysis, spectrum analysis, and cepstrum analysis can be cited as useful ones in the clinical field. The spectrum object can be usefully used for voice quality measurement and diagnosis of patients with voice disorders by showing the energy distribution according to frequency axis (domain). A cepstrum object is useful for speech analysis when periodicity of the sound object is not measurable. The low to high ratio obtained from the spectral object and the CPPs measured from the cepstrum object have attracted many researchers, and it has been proven that the CPPs measured in Praat are relatively excellent.

• 음성과학
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• 제9권4호
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• pp.237-252
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• 2002

MIT has been applied for nonfluent aphasic patients on the basis of lateralization of brain hemisphere. However, its applications for different languages have some inquiry for aphasic patients because of prosodic and rhythmic differences. The purpose of this study is to develop the Korean Melodic Intonation Therapy program using personal computer and its clinical effects for nonfluent aphasic patients. The algorithm was composed to voice analog signal, PCM, AMDF, Short-time autocorrelation function and center clipping. The main menu contains pitch, waveform, sound intensity and speech files on window. Aphasic patients' intonation patterns overlay on selected kMIT patterns. Three aphasic patients with or without kMIT training participated in this study. Four affirmative sentences and two interrogative sentences were uttered on CSL by stimulus of ST. VOT, VD, Hold and TD were measured on Spectrogram. In addition, articulation disorders and intonation patterns were evaluated objectively on spectrogram. The results indicated that nonfluent aphasic patients with kMIT training group showed some clinical effects of speech intelligibility based on VOT, TD values, articulation evaluation and prosodic pattern changes.