Some effects of Vowel Space Area (VSA) reduction in speech intelligibility
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36505/ExLing-2015/06/0020/000257Keywords:
speech intelligibility, Vowel Space Area, Down Syndrome, dysarthriaAbstract
This study intends to examine the correlation between the size of vowel space and speech intelligibility. Reduced intelligibility is a common problem for individuals suffering from dysarthria. They show a compressed vowel space with a significant degree of acoustic centralization. A recent metric employed to distinguish healthy from dysarthric speech is the Vowel Space Area (VSA). We have tested this parameter by comparing subjects with Down Syndrome to control speakers. The results of the present research, the first available data for Italian, showed that the VSA is a suitable acoustic predictor of impaired intelligibility.
References
Bunton, K. and Leddy, M. 2011. An evaluation of articulatory working speech area in vowel production of adults with Down syndrome. *Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics*, 25(4), 321–334.
Kumin, L. 2006. Speech intelligibility and childhood verbal apraxia in children with Down Syndrome. *Down Syndrome Research and Practice*, 10(1), 10–22.
Lansford, K. L. and Liss, J. M. 2014. Vowel acoustics in dysarthria: Speech disorder diagnosis and classification. *Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research*, 57(1), 57–67.
Liu, H. M., Tsao, F. M. and Kuhl, P. K. 2005. The effect of reduced vowel working space on speech intelligibility in Mandarin-speaking young adults with cerebral palsy. *The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America*, 117(6), 3879–3889.
Moura, C. P., Cunha, L., Vilarinho, H., Cunha, M., Freitas, M., Palha, M., Pais-Clemente, M. and Ferreira, A. P. 2008. Voice parameters in children with Down syndrome. *Journal of Voice*, 22(1), 34–42.
Nadel, L. (ed.). 1988. *The psychobiology of Down syndrome: Issues in the biology of language and cognition*. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Sorianello, P. 2012. *Linguaggio e Sindrome di Down*. Milano: FrancoAngeli.
Weismer, G., Jeng, J. Y., Laures, J., Kent, R. D. and Kent, J. F. 2001. Acoustic and intelligibility characteristics of sentence production in neurogenic speech disorders. *Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica*, 53(1), 1–18.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2015 Patrizia Sorianello (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
