• Korean Journal of Cleft Lip And Palate
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.123-132
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• 2004

The purpose of this study was to obtain normative nasalance scores for adult subjects speaking the Korean language. Additional objectives of the study were to determine if speaker sex played a role in differences in nasalance score and there was significantly correlation of nasalance score with nasalance slope score. The subjects include 75 healthy young Korean adults with normal oral and velopharyngeal resource and function. They had no history of speech problem, were judged as having normal speech and resonance at the time of testing, and had no upper respiratory tract infections or allergies at the time of testing. The Nasometer II 6400 was used to obtain nasalance scores and nasalance slope scores for /a/, /i/, /e/, /o/, /u/, /ja/, /je/, /wi/, /p'ap'i/ and /sasi/. The data of nasalance and nasalance slope were analyzed statistically. The mean nasalance score of the female was significantly higher than that of male at /a/, /i/, /wi/, /p'ap'i/ and /sasi/(p <0.10). The mean nasalance score of /i/ was highest and that of /o/ was the lowest. In this study, we could not and the relationship of the nasalance score and the closing slope score. However, there was negative correlation between the mean nasalance score and the opening slope score at ie/ and /;ai, positive to /sasi/. These normative nasalance scores for normal young adults speaking the Korean language provide important reference information for Korean cleft palate teams. In the future study of velopharygneal activity with the Nasometer, the opening slope score will be able to be the important parameter.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.210-216
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• 1997

Many tools have been used to evaluate the voice abnormalities of velopharyngeal insufficiency(VPI). The aim of study was to obtain the objective evaluation method of VPI by comparing the acoustic and nasalance data of experimentally induced VPI group and those of normal control group. Ten healthy young men were included in this study Mild and severe VPI were experimentally induced by retracting velopharyngeal movement. Using the nasometer, we obtained the nasalance score of the sustained oral vowels and those of three types of nasometer passages and the slope scores of nasogram of nasal words. And we analysed the change of formant frequencies for the sustained oral vowels and the changes of various parameters of hyper-tnasality by the computerized speech analysis system. The nasalance score of sustained /a/ was increased significantly in VPI conditions. There was no changes in the slope score of nasogram. On the acoustic speech analysis, the second formant frequencies of vowel /e/ and /i/ were decreased significantly in VPI conditions. This results suggested that the measurement of nasalance score and formant frequency might be useful in the evaluation of VPI.