• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.53-61
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• 2011

The present work is a follow-up study to that of Han, Choi, Lim and Lee (2011), where an asymmetry in the source segments eliciting the interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit (ISIB) was found such that the vowels which did not match any vowel of the Korean language were likely to elicit more ISIB than matched vowels. In order to identify the source of the stronger ISIB in non-matched vowels, acoustic analyses of the stimuli were performed. Two pairs of English front vowels [i] vs. [I], and $[{\varepsilon}]$ vs. $[{\ae}]$ were recorded by English native talkers and two groups of Korean learners according to their English proficiency, and then their vowel duration and the frequencies of the first two formants (F1, F2) were measured. The results demonstrated that the non-matched vowels such as [I], and $[{\ae}]$ produced by Korean talkers seemed to show more deviated acoustic characteristics from those of the natives, with longer duration and with closer formant values to the matched vowels, [i] and $[{\varepsilon}]$, than those of the English natives. Combining the results of acoustic measurements in the present study and those of word identification in Han et al. (2011), we suggest that relatively better performance in word identification by Korean talkers/listeners than the native English talkers/listeners is associated with the shared interlanguage of Korean talkers and listeners.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2015

Changes in speech production in normal elderly might be subtle and gradual. Therefore, an acoustic analysis is appropriate to identify the effect of aging on speech. For this purpose, this study examined four speech parameters; voice onset time (VOT), VOT range, $f_0$ of following vowel($f_0FV$), and $f_0FV$ difference in two age groups, old (mean age 74.57 yrs.) and young (m: 27.43 yrs.). The results show that compared to the older group the younger demonstrated significantly shorter VOTs in lenis and longer in aspirated stop. VOT ranges were relatively broad and consequently overlapped between the phonation types (e.g., lenis, fortis, aspirated). The $f_0FV$ values in the older group which are an integral parameter with VOT were lower compared with the young group. The $f_0FV$ differences in the old female group were significantly narrower than the young female group, therefore, clear distinction became difficult. In conclusion, contrast in temporal information was obscured, and the domain of glottal information was diminished on stop consonants in Korean elderly. The findings suggest that central/peripheral changes by aging could lead to a deficit in coordination between phonation and articulation.

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.149-151
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• 2007

This study was designed to investigate fast ab/adduction rate of articulation valves in normal adults. The measurement of fast ab/aduction rate has traditionally been used for assessment, diagnosis and therapy in patients who suffered from dysarthria, functional articulation disorders or apraxia of speech. Fast ab/adduction rate shows the documented structural and physiological changes in the central nervous system and the peripheral components of oral and speech production mechanism. Fast ab/adduction rates were obtained from 20 normal subjects by producing the repetition of vocal function (/ihi/), tongue function (/t${\wedge}$/), velopharyngeal function (/m/), and labial function (/p${\wedge}$/). The Aerophone II was used for data recording. The results of finding as follows: average fast ab/adduction rates were vocal function(6.21cps), tongue function(7.42cps), velopharyngeal function(5.23cps), labial function (6.93cps). The results of this study are guidelines of normal diadochokinetic rates. In addition, they can indicate the severity of diseases and evaluation of treatment.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.82-91
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• 1991

The history of automatic speech recognition research, and current and future speech products at Fujitsu are introduced here. The speech recognition research at Fujitsu started in 1970. Our research efforts have results in the production of a speaker dependent 12,000 word discrete / connected word recognizer(F2360), and a speaker independent 17 word discrete word recognizer(F2355L/S). Currently, we are working on a larger vocabulary speech recognizer, in which an input utterance will be matched with networks representing possible phonemic variations. Its application to text input is also discussed.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.135-146
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• 2008

Breath group generally refers to one of units of speech production. It is an integral component of structural and contextual features of utterances with some responsibility for fluctuations in speech intelligibility. The purpose of this study was to know the characteristics of breath group in reading passages spoken by healthy speakers, specifically in view of aerodynamic aspects. Eighteen female speakers aged from 20 to 30 years old without communication problems and in healthy condition were participated in this study. PAS (Phonatory Aerodynamic System) was used for aerodynamic measurement of breath group. Results showed that the mean value of breath group in reading tasks was 16.03 per minute (SD=3.1), and the spoken syllables per one breath group were 17.95. And the mean time (m) of breath group was 3.06 (SD=0.62), and the ratio of exhalation and inhalation was appeared in the 1:5. The results need to be discussed in values of normality of breath group and clinical viewpoint, especially their potential implication from speech intelligibility caused by brain damage.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.63-73
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• 2015

This study investigated longitudinally early vocalization and phonological developments of typically developing children. Ten typically developing children participated in the study from 9 months to 18 months of age. Spontaneous utterance samples were collected at 9, 12, 15, 18 months of age and phonetically transcribed and analyzed. Utterance samples were classified into 5 levels using Stark Assessment of Early Vocal Development-Revised(SAEVD-R). The data analysis focused on 4 and 5 levels of vocalizations classified by SAEVD-R and word productions. The percentage of each vocalization level, vocalization length, syllable structures, and consonant inventory were obtained. The results showed that the percentages of level 4 and 5 vocalizations and word significantly increased with age and the production of syllable structures containing consonants significantly increased around 12 and 15 months of age. On average, the children produced 4 types of syllable structure and 5.4 consonants at 9 months and they produced 5 types of syllable structure and 9.8 consonants at 18 months. The phonological development patterns in this study were consistent with those analyzed from children's meaningful utterances in previous studies. The results support the perspective on the continuity between babbling and early speech. This study has clinical implications in early identification and speech-language intervention for young children with speech delays or at risk.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.51-65
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• 2011

This study attempts to investigate the interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit for listeners (ISIB-L), examining Chinese talkers' production of English liquids and its perception of native listeners and non-native Chinese and Korean listeners. An Accent Judgment Task was conducted to measure non-native talkers' and listeners' phonological proficiency, and two levels of proficiency groups (high and low) participated in the experiment. The English liquids /l/ and /r/ produced by Chinese talkers were considered in terms of positions (syllable initial and final), contexts (segment, word and sentence) and lexical density (minimal vs. nonminimal pair) to see if these factors play a role in ISIIB-L. Results showed that both matched and mismatched interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit for listeners occurred except for the initial /l/. Non-native Chinese and Korean listeners, though only with high proficiency, were more accurate at identifying initial /r/, final /l/ and final /r/, but initial /l/ was significantly more intelligible to native listeners than non-native listeners. There was evidence of contextual and lexical density effects on ISIB-L. No ISIB-L was demonstrated in sentence context, but both matched and mismatched ISIB-L was observed in word context; this finding held true for only high proficiency listeners. Listeners recognized the targets better in the non-minimal pair (sparse density) environment than the minimal pair (higher density) environment. These findings suggest that ISIB-L for English liquids is influenced by talkers' and listeners' proficiency, syllable position in association with L1 and L2 phonological structure, context, and word neighborhood density.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.109-117
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• 2021

The auditory-perceptual evaluation of speech-language pathologists (SLP) in patients with voice disorders is often regarded as a touchstone in the multi-dimensional voice evaluation procedures and provides important information not available in other assessment modalities. Therefore, it is necessary for the SLPs to conduct a comprehensive and in-depth evaluation of not only voice but also the overall speech production mechanism, and they often encounter various difficulties in the evaluation process. In addition, SLPs should strive to avoid bias during the evaluation process and to maintain a wide and constant spectrum of severity for each parameter of voice quality. Lastly, it is very important for the SLPs to perform a team approach by documenting and delivering important information pertaining to auditory-perceptual characteristics in an appropriate and efficient way through close communication with the laryngologists.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.11-22
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between the strength of the tongue/lip strength and speech production for dysarthric adults with cerebral palsy. The maximal tongue and lip strengths of 22 normal adults, 27 dysarthric adults (10 adults with mild dysarthria, 10 adults with moderate dysarthria, and 7 adults with severe dysarthria) were measured with Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI). The percentage of correct consonants (PCC) and speech intelligibility were calculated from the words and sentences spoken by the subjects. The results of the study are as follows: First, both the maximal tongue and the maximal lip strength differed significantly between the control group and the group with dysarthria. While the group with mild dysarthria did not show meaningful difference in maximal tongue and lip strengths from the control group, the group with moderate and severe dysarthria showed significantly weaker tongue and lip strength than the control group and the group with mild dysarthria. Second, the current study suggests the existence of a significant correlation between the maximal tongue and lip strength and the PCC and speech intelligibility within all subjects with dysarthria. These findings can serve as an effective foundation to diagnose dysarthria quickly and accurately. The results of this study also indicate that in addition to the maximal tongue strength, the maximal lip strength can prove to be an important index in predicting the speech intelligibility of dysarthric adults with cerebral palsy.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.198-202
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• 2012

Background : Maxillary hypoplasia refers to a deficiency in the growth of the maxilla commonly seen in patients with a repaired cleft palate. Those who develop maxillary hypoplasia can be offered a repositioning of the maxilla to a functional and esthetic position. Velopharyngeal dysfunction is one of the important problems affecting speech after maxillary advancement surgery. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of maxillary advancement on repaired cleft palate patients without preoperative deterioration in speech compared with non-cleft palate patients. Methods : Eighteen patients underwent Le Fort I osteotomy between 2005 and 2011. One patient was excluded due to preoperative deterioration in speech. Eight repaired cleft palate patients belonged to group A, and 9 non-cleft palate patients belonged to group B. Speech assessments were performed preoperatively and postoperatively by using a speech screening protocol that consisted of a list of single words designed by Ok-Ran Jung. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to determine if there were significant differences between the preoperative and postoperative outcomes in each group A and B. And Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine if there were significant differences in the change of score between groups A and B. Results : No patients had any noticeable change in speech production on perceptual assessment after maxillary advancement in our study. Furthermore, there were no significant differences between groups A and B. Conclusions : Repaired cleft palate patients without preoperative velopharyngeal dysfunction would not have greater risk of deterioration of velopharyngeal function after maxillary advancement compared to non-cleft palate patients.