scholarly journals A Longitudinal Study of Speech Acoustics in Older French Females: Analysis of the Filler Particle euh across Utterance Positions

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 211
Author(s):  
Susanne Fuchs ◽  
Laura L. Koenig ◽  
Annette Gerstenberg
Keyword(s):  
Voice Quality ◽  
Filler Particle ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Aging Effects ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
Vocal Aging ◽  
Interaction With Age ◽  
Discourse Particle ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Acoustic Measure

Aging in speech production is a multidimensional process. Biological, cognitive, social, and communicative factors can change over time, stay relatively stable, or may even compensate for each other. In this longitudinal work, we focus on stability and change at the laryngeal and supralaryngeal levels in the discourse particle euh produced by 10 older French-speaking females at two times, 10 years apart. Recognizing the multiple discourse roles of euh, we divided out occurrences according to utterance position. We quantified the frequency of euh, and evaluated acoustic changes in formants, fundamental frequency, and voice quality across time and utterance position. Results showed that euh frequency was stable with age. The only acoustic measure that revealed an age effect was harmonics-to-noise ratio, showing less noise at older ages. Other measures mostly varied with utterance position, sometimes in interaction with age. Some voice quality changes could reflect laryngeal adjustments that provide for airflow conservation utterance-finally. The data suggest that aging effects may be evident in some prosodic positions (e.g., utterance-final position), but not others (utterance-initial position). Thus, it is essential to consider the interactions among these factors in future work and not assume that vocal aging is evident throughout the signal.

scholarly journals Avaliação da Percepção do Envelhecimento Vocal em Idosos

2006 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauriceia Cassol
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Private Life ◽  
Elderly Individuals ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Mild Degree ◽  
Auditory Analysis ◽  
Vocal Aging ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Voice

Resumo: Este estudo objetiva avaliar a voz de um grupo de idosos relacionando a qualidade vocal e seu grau de alteração com o impacto causado em relação à vida particular, profissional e social, através das avaliações perceptivo-auditiva e da utilização de uma escala de auto-avaliação vocal. Fizeram parte deste estudo 19 indivíduos idosos do gênero masculino e gênero feminino na faixa etária de 60 a 80 anos, alunos da Universidade do Adulto Maior do Centro Universitário Metodista IPA. Para a análise perceptivo-auditiva foi realizada a gravação digital da voz através da emissão da vogal /a/ sustentada e da contagem de números de um a 20. Na realização da auto-avaliação da psicodinâmica vocal os indivíduos foram instruídos à marcar numa escala de zero a dez o impacto da sua voz em relação à vida particular, profissional e social, sendo considerado o impacto vocal de zero a três ruim, de quatro a sete bom e de oito a dez ótimo. Na avaliação perceptivo-auditiva da qualidade vocal houve predomínio do tipo de voz rouca-soprosa de grau leve, sendo um dos principais marcadores do envelhecimento da voz ou presbifonia. Na escala de auto- avaliação vocal em relação a vida particular os indivíduos avaliaram sua voz com ótimo e bom impacto, na vida profissional consideraram que costumava causar impacto ótimo e na vida social impacto bom. Pode-se concluir que todos os indivíduos possuem uma auto- imagem vocal positiva, apesar de apresentarem uma qualidade vocal alterada decorrente do processo de envelhecimento vocal. Palavras-chave: Voz. Idosos. Geriatria. Gerontologia. Abstract: This study aims to assess the voice of an elderly group relating voice quality and its alteration degree with the impact caused on professional, social and private life, through perceptive-auditory assessments and use of a voice self-evaluation scale. 19 female and male elderly individuals at ages ranging from 60 to 80 years, who were students at the IPA Adult University, participated in this study. For the perceptive-auditory analysis, a digital voice recording was performed through the emission of the sustained /a/ vowel and number counting from one to twenty. While performing the vocal psychodynamic self-evaluation, the subjects were instructed to rate from zero to ten in a scale the impact of their voices in relation to private, professional and social life, the vocal impact from zero to three being considered bad, from four to seven good, and from eight to ten optimal. In the perceptive-auditory evaluation of voice quality, there was a dominance of the hoarse, breathy voice type of mild degree, this being one of the markers of voice aging or presbyphonia. In the voice self-evalution scale in relation to private life, the subjects evaluated their voice as optimal and with good impact; regarding professional life, they considered it to cause an optimal impact; and regarding social life, a good impact. We can conclude that all subjects have a positive voice self-evaluation, despite presenting an altered voice quality stemming from the vocal aging process. Keywords: Voice. Elderly. Geriatrics. Gerontology.

scholarly journals Vocal aging effects on F0 and the first formant: A longitudinal analysis in adult speakers

2010 ◽  
Vol 52 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 638-651 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Reubold ◽  
Jonathan Harrington ◽  
Felicitas Kleber
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Analysis ◽  
Aging Effects ◽  
Vocal Aging

Can a Model of Overlapping Gestures Account for Scanning Speech Patterns?

1999 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 604-617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kris Tjaden
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Temporal Variability ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Speaking Rate ◽  
Production Theory ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Position Effects ◽  
Speech Patterns ◽  
Disordered Speech ◽  
Acoustic Measure

A simple acoustic model of overlapping, sliding gestures was used to evaluate whether coproduction was reduced for neurologic speakers with scanning speech patterns. F2 onset frequency was used as an acoustic measure of coproduction or gesture overlap. The effects of speaking rate (habitual versus fast) and utterance position (initial versus medial) on F2 frequency, and presumably gesture overlap, were examined. Regression analyses also were used to evaluate the extent to which across-repetition temporal variability in F2 trajectories could be explained as variation in coproduction for consonants and vowels. The lower F2 onset frequencies for disordered speakers suggested that gesture overlap was reduced for neurologic individuals with scanning speech. Speaking rate change did not influence F2 onset frequencies, and presumably gesture overlap, for healthy or disordered speakers. F2 onset frequency differences for utterance-initial and -medial repetitions were interpreted to suggest reduced coproduction for the utterance-initial position. The utterance-position effects on F2 onset frequency, however, likely were complicated by position-related differences in articulatory scaling. The results of the regression analysis indicated that gesture sliding accounts, in part, for temporal variability in F2 trajectories. Taken together, the results of this study provide support for the idea that speech production theory for healthy talkers helps to account for disordered speech production.

Acoustic Variability of the Adult Voice Over Time

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 104-112
Author(s):  
Jenny L. Pierce
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Evaluation ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Acoustic Measures ◽  
Acoustic Variability ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Acoustic Measure ◽  
Over Time

Voice quality is known to fluctuate in adults over relatively short periods of time. Quantifying the degree to which the normal and pathologic voice fluctuates can be applied in various ways for clinical evaluation and treatment purposes. Quantifying true fluctuations in voice quality depends on the reliability of the specific acoustic measure being used. Some acoustic measures may be more reliable than others in tracking these fluctuations. This article reviews the literature to date regarding voice quality fluctuations in adults over short periods of time (i.e., days and weeks). Recommendations for future research directions are also given.

scholarly journals The Effect of Background Noise on Intelligibility of Dysphonic Speech

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (7) ◽  
pp. 1919-1929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keiko Ishikawa ◽  
Suzanne Boyce ◽  
Lisa Kelchner ◽  
Maria Golla Powell ◽  
Heidi Schieve ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Strong Correlation ◽  
Background Noise ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Cepstral Peak Prominence ◽  
Intelligibility Score ◽  
Future Work ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Acoustic Measure

Purpose The aim of this study is to determine the effect of background noise on the intelligibility of dysphonic speech and to examine the relationship between intelligibility in noise and an acoustic measure of dysphonia: cepstral peak prominence (CPP). Method A study of speech perception was conducted using speech samples from 6 adult speakers with typical voice and 6 adult speakers with dysphonia. Speech samples were presented to 30 listeners with typical hearing in 3 noise conditions: quiet, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)+5, and SNR+0. Intelligibility scores were obtained via orthographic transcription as the percentage of correctly identified words. Speech samples were acoustically analyzed using CPP, and the correlation between the CPP measurements and intelligibility scores was examined. Results The intelligibility of both typical and dysphonic speech was reduced as the level of background noise increased. The reduction was significantly greater in dysphonic speech. A strong correlation was noted between CPP and intelligibility score at SNR+0. Conclusions Dysphonic speech is relatively harder to understand in the presence of background noise as compared with typical speech. CPP may be a useful predictor of this intelligibility deficit. Future work is needed to confirm these findings with a larger number of speakers and speech materials with known predictability.

scholarly journals Diagnostic accuracy of the Smoothed Cepstral Peak Prominence (CPPS) in the detection of dysphonia in the Spanish language

Loquens ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 058
Author(s):  
Jonathan Delgado-Hernández ◽  
Nieves León-Gómez ◽  
Alejandra Jiménez-Álvarez
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Accuracy ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
Acoustic Voice Quality Index ◽  
Cepstral Peak Prominence ◽  
The One ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Acoustic Measure ◽  
Pathological Voice

The smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPS) is an acoustic measure that can be calculated in both sustained vowels and continuous speech. The goal of this work is to find out the diagnostic accuracy of CPPS in the detection of dysphonia in Spanish. In this study 136 subjects with dysphonia and 47 healthy subjects participated. For each subject a sustained vowel and the reading of three phonetically balanced sentences were recorded. The CPPS was calculated with Praat using its default configuration (configuration 1), and also with the one used in the calculation of the Acoustic Voice Quality Index (configuration 2). Five experts perceptively assessed the voice of the subjects in the sample by means of the GRABS scale. The CPPS has a great power of discrimination between the normal and the pathological voice, whether it is calculated from the sustained vowel /a/ (AROC[config. 1] = 0.863 and AROC[config. 2] = 0.841) or whether it is calculated from the sentences (AROC[config. 1] = 0.884 and AROC[config. 2] = 0.866). The results confirm that CPPS is a valid acoustic measurement to detect dysphonia in the Spanish language.

A Phonetic Study of Voice - and Segment - Quality Changes during Second Language Acquisition

1994 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 129-146
Author(s):  
Marielle Bruyninckx ◽  
Bernard Harmegnies
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
First Year ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Perceptual Analysis ◽  
Segmental Analysis ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
Phonetic Study

Abstract. In this paper, we study the productions of twelve French-speaking Belgian subjects who attended a first-year Russian course with the aim of becoming translators or interpreters. A perceptual analysis, conducted by experts of Russian pronunciation, enabled us to define each learner's acquisition profile, and led to the choice of three subjects who had the most contrasted acquisition profiles in the sample. Segmental analysis was used in order to capture some specific phonetic processes involved in the acquisition of Russian. A comparison was made with speech samples drawn from the productions of a native speaker of Russian. Using Long Term Average Spectra as acoustic cues to voice quality, we were able to qualify the subjects' productions in a global and measurable way. This quantititative approach confirmed the results of perceptual and segmental analysis.

Exploring the Acoustic Perceptual Relationship of Speech in Parkinson's Disease

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Yi-Fang Chiu ◽  
Amy Neel ◽  
Travis Loux
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Acoustic Features ◽  
Healthy Older Adults ◽  
Acoustic Measures ◽  
Perceptual Judgments ◽  
Second Formant ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Future Work

Purpose Auditory perceptual judgments are commonly used to diagnose dysarthria and assess treatment progress. The purpose of the study was to examine the acoustic underpinnings of perceptual speech abnormalities in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD). Method Auditory perceptual judgments were obtained from sentences produced by 13 speakers with PD and five healthy older adults. Twenty young listeners rated overall ease of understanding, articulatory precision, voice quality, and prosodic adequacy on a visual analog scale. Acoustic measures associated with the speech subsystems of articulation, phonation, and prosody were obtained, including second formant transitions, articulation rate, cepstral and spectral measures of voice, and pitch variations. Regression analyses were performed to assess the relationships between perceptual judgments and acoustic variables. Results Perceptual impressions of Parkinsonian speech were related to combinations of several acoustic variables. Approximately 36%–49% of the variance in the perceptual ratings were explained by the acoustic measures indicating a modest acoustic perceptual relationship. Conclusions The relationships between perceptual ratings and acoustic signals in Parkinsonian speech are multifactorial and involve a variety of acoustic features simultaneously. The modest acoustic perceptual relationships, however, suggest that future work is needed to further examine the acoustic bases of perceptual judgments in dysarthria.

Present status of radio astrometry with baselines ≤ 35 km

1978 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 175-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. J. Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Present Status ◽  
Future Work

A summary of results for radio astrometry with baselines ≤ 35 km and priorities for future work are given.

Age Norms for Auditory-Perceptual Neurophonetic Parameters: A Prerequisite for the Assessment of Childhood Dysarthria

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 1071-1082
Author(s):  
Theresa Schölderle ◽  
Elisabet Haas ◽  
Wolfram Ziegler
Keyword(s):  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Age Norms ◽  
Elementary School Age ◽  
Speech Characteristics ◽  
Substantial Progress ◽  
Computer Based

Purpose The aim of this study was to collect auditory-perceptual data on established symptom categories of dysarthria from typically developing children between 3 and 9 years of age, for the purpose of creating age norms for dysarthria assessment. Method One hundred forty-four typically developing children (3;0–9;11 [years;months], 72 girls and 72 boys) participated. We used a computer-based game specifically designed for this study to elicit sentence repetitions and spontaneous speech samples. Speech recordings were analyzed using the auditory-perceptual criteria of the Bogenhausen Dysarthria Scales, a standardized German assessment tool for dysarthria in adults. The Bogenhausen Dysarthria Scales (scales and features) cover clinically relevant dimensions of speech and allow for an evaluation of well-established symptom categories of dysarthria. Results The typically developing children exhibited a number of speech characteristics overlapping with established symptom categories of dysarthria (e.g., breathy voice, frequent inspirations, reduced articulatory precision, decreased articulation rate). Substantial progress was observed between 3 and 9 years of age, but with different developmental trajectories across different dimensions. In several areas (e.g., respiration, voice quality), 9-year-olds still presented with salient developmental speech characteristics, while in other dimensions (e.g., prosodic modulation), features typically associated with dysarthria occurred only exceptionally, even in the 3-year-olds. Conclusions The acquisition of speech motor functions is a prolonged process not yet completed with 9 years. Various developmental influences (e.g., anatomic–physiological changes) shape children's speech specifically. Our findings are a first step toward establishing auditory-perceptual norms for dysarthria in children of kindergarten and elementary school age. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12133380

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