• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.59-67
• /
• 2023

This study aimed to propose an appropriate evaluation method for the perceived level of speech disfluency based on sound prolongation (i.e., increased duration of segments). To this end, 34 Korean-speaking adults (9 males, 25 females, average age: 32.9 yrs.) participated as raters in this study. The participants listened to sentences containing a total of 25 stimuli with the Korean voiceless fricative /s/ extended by 80-ms increments up to 2,000 ms (i.e., 285 ms, 365 ms., ..., 2,125 ms, 2,205 ms), and evaluated them using an equal-appearing interval scale (EAI, 1-7 points, where 1 represents "normal" and 7 represents "severe"). Subsequently, based on the interval-scale results, the sentence stimuli with the prolonged voiceless fricative corresponding to the mild-to-moderate level (rated as 4 points) were selected as the reference modulus for direct magnitude estimation (DME). After scatter plots were created for the two evaluation results, the relationship between the two measured mean values was analyzed using a curve estimation method for the observed data with the highest R²-value to determine whether a linear or curvilinear approximation fit the data better. A curvilinear relationship between the two evaluation results was indicated, suggesting that DME is a more appropriate evaluation method than the EAI scale for assessing the perceived level of disfluency based on sound prolongation.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.33-40
• /
• 2024

This study investigated acoustic features in spectral moment analysis, comparing accurate articulations with distortions of alveolar fricatives such as dentalization, palatalization, and lateralization. A retrospective analysis was conducted on speech samples from 61 children (mean age: 5.6±1.5 years, 19 females, 42 males) using the Assessment of Phonology & Articulation for Children (APAC) and Urimal-test of Articulation and Phonology I (U-TAP I). Spectral moment analysis was applied to 169 speech samples. The results revealed that the center of gravity of accurate articulations was higher than that of palatalization, while palatalization was lower than dentalization. The variance of dentalization was higher than that of both accurate articulations and palatalization. The skewness of dentalization was higher than that of accurate articulations, and the skewness of palatalization was higher than that of accurate articulations. The kurtosis of palatalization was higher than that of both accurate articulations and dentalization. No significant differences were observed for the position of fricatives (initial, medial) and tense type (plain, tense) across all variables of spectral moment analysis for each distortion type. This study confirmed distinct patterns in center of gravity, variance, skewness, and kurtosis depending on the type of alveolar fricative distortion. The objective values provided in this study will serve as foundational data for diagnosing alveolar fricative distortions in children with speech sound disorders.

• Speech Sciences
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.87-103
• /
• 2004

This study investigates Korean listeners' perception of the English stop epenthesis between the sonorant and fricative segments. Specifically this study investigates 1) how often English epenthetic stops are perceived by native Korean listeners, given the fact that Korean does not allow consonant clusters in codas; and 2) whether perception of the epenthetic stops, which are optional phonetic variations, not phonemes, could be improved without any explicit training. 120 English non-words with a mono-syllable structure of CVC1C2, where C1=/m, n, $\eta$, 1/, and C2=/s, $\theta$, $\int$/, were given to two groups of native Korean listeners, and they were asked to detect the target stops such as [p], [t], and [k]. The number of their responses were computed to determine how often listeners succeed in recovering the string of segments produced by the native English speaker. The results of the present study show that English epenthetic stops are poorly identified by native Korean listeners with low English proficiency, even in the case where stimuli with strong acoustic cues are provided with, but perception of epenthetic stops is closely related with listeners' English proficiency, showing the possibility of the improvement of perception. It further shows that perception of epenthetic stops shows asymmetry between coronal and non-coronal consonants.

• Speech Sciences
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.139-151
• /
• 2005

Previous studies have shown that Korean students have difficulty identifying some English consonants which are not in the Korean sound inventory. The aim of this study was to examine the accuracy rate of English consonants correctly identified by 130 college students in order to find out which English consonants were difficult for the students to perceive. The subject's task was to identify one of the minimal pairs played in a quiet laboratory classroom. 100 minimal pairs consisted of syllables with various onsets or codas: stops, fricatives, affricates, liquids and nasals. Results were as follows: First, the average score of the English major group was significantly higher than that of the non-English major group. Second, there was a similar distribution in the rank order of minimal pairs sorted by the accuracy rate between the two groups. Third, the accuracy rate systematically decreased as each score range decreased. Fourth, the students showed higher accuracy in the perception of liquids than that of the stop-fricative contrast. Fifth, the accuracy score in onset position was higher than in coda position. Finally, the students still had problem telling voiced consonants from voiceless ones, especially in coda position. It would be desirable to extend the present research to middle or high school students to fundamentally resolve those listening problems.

• Speech Sciences
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.139-149
• /
• 2005

The purpose of this study was to propose a preliminary norm for 'Korean-Test of Articulation for Children(K-TAC)'. The K-TAC was designed to test 19 Korean consonants in various phonetic contexts through 37 words. We collected the data of 220 normally developing children aged 2;6(years;months) to 6;5. We analyzed the mean percentage of consonants correct and the age of acquisition for K-TAC. The results were as follows: first, The mean percentage was over 60% at late 2 years of age, over 80% at th age of 3, and over 90% after the age of 4. There were significant differences among age groups. Second, based on the criterion of correct production by 75% of children, Korean children acquired stops and nasals except for SF velars, glottal fricative, SF liquid and affricates by late 2 or 3 years of age. After that they acquired SF velars at the age of 4 and SI liquid at the age of 5. However, they could not acquire alveolar fricatives by the age of late 6. Third, if the distorted sounds were scored as correct, they acquired SI liquid at 4 years of age and alveolar fricatives at 5 years of age.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.124-131
• /
• 2002

Speech characteristics of patients with cleft palates are resonance disorders, articulatory disorders and voice disorders. The purpose of this study is to find the acoustic, physiological and articulatory characteristics of cleft palate speakers. Thirteen control groups and 3 cleft palate patients participated in this experiment. Test words were composed of simple vowels and consonants imbedded in low vowel /a/, /p 'ap'i/ and /sasi/ according to the evaluation experiments. CSL, Video fluoroscopy, Fiberscope and Nasometer were used to analyze VOT, vowel formants, profiles of articulator, VP port images and nasalance. The results are as follows : (1) The nasalance of cleft palate patients in the high vowel /i/, stop sounds and fricative sounds were 60%, 34.8% and 44.1%, respectively. These values were higher than those of the control group. (2) Posterior articulatory movements /k'a/ in patients with cleft palates showed backward movement in comparison with the control group on Video Fluoroscopic images and palatograms. These results suggested that patients with cleft palate have the compensatory oral sounds to close the VP port. (3) The VOT in patients with cleft palates was longer than that of the control group.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2020

The perceptual assimilation of a nonnative phonological contrast can change with linguistic experience, resulting in naïve listeners and novice second language (L2) learners potentially assimilating the members of a nonnative contrast to different native (L1) categories. While it has been shown that this sort of change can affect the discrimination of the nonnative contrast, it has not been tested whether such a change could have consequences for the production of the contrast. In this study, L1 speakers of Mandarin Chinese who were (1) naïve to Korean, (2) novice L2 learners, or (3) advanced L2 learners participated in a Korean non-word repetition task using word-initial sibilants. The initial CVs of their repetitions were then played to L1 Korean listeners who categorized the initial consonant. The naïve talkers were more likely to repeat an initial /s^ha/ as an affricate, whereas the L2 learners repeated it as a fricative, in line with how these listeners have been shown to assimilate Korean sibilants to Mandarin categories. This result suggests that errors in the production of new words presented auditorily to nonnative listeners may be driven by how they perceptually assimilate the nonnative sounds, emphasizing the need to better understand what drives changes in perceptual assimilation that accompany increased linguistic experience.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.195-200
• /
• 1992

This paper deal with the acoustic cues of Pyoung-An Do dialect using linear prediction. Also, this paper descrbes a statistical comparison between standard tone speech data and Pyoung-An Do dia lects. The analysis done mainly focused on the distribution of formants and pitch periods accord to ac- cents variation. For the purpose of objective comparison, the experiments are performed by extracts for- mant LPC spectrum and pithch periods from average magnitude difference function waveforms. Summing up the results, In disyllable words (VCV pattern) , prepositioned vowels have longer phona lion time than postpositioned vowels and the intrin, iii phonation time is whore longer in the low vowels than in the high ones. The africative consonants show the mixed characteristics of the plosive and frlc ative consonants. The remarkable acoustic cues are the low frequency noise-like waves just before the 1st formants in the plosive consonants, the high frequency noise-like waves in the fricative consonants, and phonation time is not affected by the kinds of prepositioned or postpositioned vowels.

• Speech Sciences
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.105-119
• /
• 1999

Cleft palate patients have general speech problems with resonance disorders and articulation disorders. The aim of this study is to find the aerodynamic and acoustic characteristics of the nasalization in cleft palate speakers. Thirteen control groups and three cleft palate patients pre- and post operation were selected for these studies. The test words are composed by polysyllabic words: consonants between high vowel /i/ analysis. The cleft palate patients repeated test words pre- and post-operation from one, three and six month periods. The subjects repeated test words on Macquirer and on Nasometer Model 6200-3. The aerodynamic and acoustic results of nasalization show as follows: (1) The nasal rate in overall airflow of aspirated consonant for cleft palate patients shows higher levels than that of the control group. It had decreased since one month after operation. (2) The overall airflow of cleft palate patients is higher than in the control group, however oral air pressure is lower than control group. (3) The nasal airflow and the nasal rate in overall airflow of cleft palate patients has higher than the control group, however its decreased after operation. (4) The nasalance scores of cleft palate patients were 40% higher than that of the control group. The scores did not decrease after operation. The nasalance score of lateral and fricative sounds did not decrease after operation.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• /
• v.14 no.1_2
• /
• pp.40-53
• /
• 1992

This sutdy aimed at examining the effect of lingual frenectomy on phonation & tongue movement. Almost the patient visiting to department of oral & maxillofacial surgery for the treatment of tongue tie always complain the speech problem. Many operation was performed according to this problem. But the objective evaluation of the speech change have been deficient. The experimental group was 25 adult males. Fourteen Korean consonants & after Korean vowels was combined and seventy sound was made for speech analysis. Before & after lingual frenectomy, the speech of the above mentioned group was recorded and then analysed by the Speech Workstation computer software. And before & after operation, the lingual frenum & tongue protrusion amount vas measured. The results were as follows : 1. The pre-operative length of lingual frenum was inverse proportion with the pre-operative length of the protrusive tongue. 2. The average difference between pre & post-operative length of the protrusive tongue was about 23 mm. 3. In the comparison of consonant continuing time change, fricative consonant(r, s, h) was increased post-operatively. 4. In the comparison of the vowel frequency formant change, the "i"and "u" sound vas reliably changed. 5. There was no reliable speech changes on the other sounds.