Acoustic classification of coronal stops of Eastern Punjabi

Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language which contrasts a rich set of coronal stops at dental and retroflex places of articulation across three laryngeal configurations. Moreover, all these stops occur contrastively in various positions (word-initially, -medially, and -finally). The goal of this study is to investigate how various coronal place and laryngeal contrasts are distinguished acoustically both within and across word positions. A number of temporal and spectral correlates were examined in data from 13 speakers of Eastern Punjabi: Voice Onset Time, release and closure durations, fundamental frequency, F1-F3 formants, spectral center of gravity and standard deviation, H1*-H2*, and cepstral peak prominence. The findings indicated that higher formants and spectral measures were most important for the classification of place contrasts across word positions, whereas laryngeal contrasts were reliably distinguished by durational and voice quality measures. Word-medially and -finally, F2 and F3 of the preceding vowels played a key role in distinguishing the dental and retroflex stops, while spectral noise measures were more important word-initially. The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of factors involved in the maintenance of typologically rare and phonetically complex sets of place and laryngeal contrasts in the coronal stops of Indo-Aryan languages.

Do Flexible Silicone Tubes Immersed in Water Combined With Vocalise Improve the Immediate Effect on Voice?

Purpose: This study aimed to analyze the immediate effect on a singer's voice of a flexible silicone tube immersed in water combined with ascending and descending vocalise scales compared with ascending and descending vocalise scales alone. Method: A pre- and post-intervention quasi-experimental study was conducted. Thirty adult singers between 18 and 45 years old with no laryngeal disorders performed the two techniques for 3 min each on different days. Acoustic measurements of frequency, jitter, shimmer, glottal-to-noise excitation ratio, noise, smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPS), maximum phonation time (MPT), voice range profile, and self-perceived vocal effort (Borg Category Ratio 10-BR Scale adapted for vocal effort) were assessed before and after performing the techniques. Results: The results indicated an increase in singers' CPPS and MPT values and a decrease in shimmer and noise when performing with a flexible silicone tube immersed in water combined with vocalise. The singers reported a perception of decreased vocal effort after both methods. However, the diminished perceived vocal effort became more pronounced with the tube phonation technique combined with vocalise. Conclusions: Phonation in tubes combined with vocalise improved the vocal acoustic parameters (including cepstral measurements), increased MPT, and diminished perceived vocal effort. Although using vocalise alone diminished perceived vocal effort, this decrease was more pronounced in the tube phonation technique combined with vocalise.

Relationships Among Personality, Daily Speaking Voice Use, and Phonotrauma in Adult Female Singers

Purpose This study sought to determine whether personality traits related to extraversion and impulsivity are more strongly associated with singers with nodules compared to vocally healthy singers and to understand the relationship between personality and the types of daily speaking voice use. Method Weeklong ambulatory voice recordings and personality inventories were obtained for 47 female singers with nodules and 47 vocally healthy female singers. Paired t tests investigated trait differences between groups. Relationships between traits and weeklong speaking voice measures (vocal dose, sound pressure level [SPL], neck surface acceleration magnitude [NSAM], fundamental frequency, cepstral peak prominence [CPP], and the ratio of the first two harmonic magnitudes [ H 1 –H 2 ]) were examined using pairwise Pearson r coefficients. Multiple regressions were performed to estimate voice parameters that correlated with two or more traits. Results Singers with nodules scored higher on the Social Potency scale (reflecting a tendency toward social dominance) and lower on the Control scale (reflecting impulsivity) compared to the vocally healthy singers. In vocally healthy singers, vocal dose measures were positively correlated with a combination of Wellbeing (i.e., happiness) and Social Potency, mean SPL was positively correlated with Wellbeing, SPL variability was positively correlated with Social Potency and negatively with Harm Avoidance, and CPP mean was positively correlated with Wellbeing. Singers with nodules had a negative correlation between NSAM skewness and Social Potency. Both groups had negative correlations between H 1 –H 2 mean and Social Potency and Social Closeness. Conclusions Singers with nodules are more socially dominant and impulsive than vocally healthy singers. Personality traits are related to daily speaking voice use, particularly in vocally healthy singers. Individuals with higher levels of traits related to happiness and social dominance and lower Harm Avoidance tended to speak more, with higher laryngeal forces, with more SPL variability, and with more pressed glottal closure, which could increase risk of phonotrauma.

The Effect of Voice Therapy for the Treatment of Functional Aphonia: A Preliminary Study

Background and Objectives Functional aphonia refers to in which by presenting whispering voice and almost producing very high-pitched tensed voices are produced. Voice therapy is the most effective treatment, but there is a lack of consensus for application of voice therapy. The purpose of this study was to examine the vocal characteristics of functional aphonia and the effect of voice therapy applied accordingly.Materials and Method From October 2019 to December 2020, 11 patients with functional aphonia were treated using voice therapy which was processing three stages such as vocal hygiene, trial therapy, and behavioral therapy. Of these, 7 patients who completed the voice evaluation before and after voice therapy was enrolled in this study. By retrospective chart review, clinical information such as sex, age, symptoms, duration, social and medical history, process of voice therapy, subjective and objective findings were analyzed. Voice parameters before and after voice therapy were compared.Results In GRBAS study, grade, rough, and asthenic, and in Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice, overall severity, roughness, pitch, and loudness were significantly improved after voice therapy. In Voice handicap index, all of the scores of total and sub-categories were significantly decreased. In objective voice analysis, jitter, cepstral peak prominence, and maximum phonation time were significantly improved.Conclusion The voice therapy was effective for the treatment of functional aphonia by restoring patient’s vocalization and improving voice quality, pitch and loudness.

Spectral/cepstral analyses of connected speech in parkinson’s disease as compared with sustained phonation before and after voice treatment

Purpose: The primary purpose of this study was to assess the effect of Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT®LOUD) on selected spectral/cepstral measures of voice in connected speech. Spectral/cepstral analyses also were used to descriptively compare changes in connected speech to those previously reported in sustained vowels. An additional goal was to examine individual differences in responses to LSVT across the spectral/cepstral measures.Methods: Nine adult participants with PD were examined in a pre/post treatment design. Speech recordings were obtained on three different days within one week before and one week after LSVT. Speech recordings were analyzed for cepstral peak prominence (CPP), CPP Standard Deviation (CPP-SD), Low/High Spectral Ratio (L/H SR), and Cepstral/Spectral Index of Dysphonia (CSID) using the Analysis of Dysphonia in Speech and Voice (ADSV) program.Results: CPP and CSID were the only measures that detect treatment-related changes in connected speech. Investigating individual differences demonstrated more participants exhibiting an improvement in sustained phonation than in connected speech.Conclusions: Cepstral/spectral measures have been shown to be valid measures for estimating dysphonia severity in both continuous speech and sustained vowels. In addition, it extends the use of the cepstral/spectral measures for characterizing speech and voice aspects prior to treatment and for quantifying treatment outcomes. Moreover, it supports the use of LSVT as a treatment approach for improving voice quality in addition to intensity in PD.

Effects of Laryngeal Massage on Muscle Tension Dysphonia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background and Objectives This study was to investigate the voice quality and articulation effects of laryngeal massage on muscle tension dysphonia (MTD).Materials and Method A systematic review of articles published between January 2000 and December 2020 in Cochrane, PubMed, ScienceDirect, SpingerLink, ERIC, and Naver Academic was conducted. From the total of 2094 articles identified, 10 peer-reviewed articles were included in a meta-analysis. Mean effect sizes of the variables related to voice quality (jitter, shimmer, harmonic to noise ratio or noise to harmonic ratio, high-F0, low-I, cepstral peak prominence) and articulation (F1, F2, F1 slope, F2 slope) were calculated by Hedges’g.Results Meta-analysis of the selected articles showed that laryngeal massage had medium to large effects on all variables of voice quality and articulation except F0-high and F1 slope in the MTD patients.Conclusion This study provided comprehensive clinical evidence that it is highly desirable to apply laryngeal massage to MTD patients.

Fundamental Frequency and Phonation Differences in the Production of Stop Laryngeal Contrasts of Endangered Shina

Shina is an endangered Indo-Aryan (Dardic) language spoken in Gilgit, Northern Pakistan. The present study investigates the acoustic correlates of Shina’s three-way stop laryngeal contrast across five places of articulation. A wide range of acoustic correlates were measured including fundamental frequency (F0), spectral tilt (H1*-H2*, H1*-A1*, H1*-A2*, and H1*-A3*), and cepstral peak prominence (CPP). Voiceless aspirated stops were characterized by higher fundamental frequency, spectral tilt, and cepstral peak prominence, compared to voiceless unaspirated and voiced unaspirated stops. These results suggest that Shina is among those languages which have a raising effect of aspiration on the pitch and spectral tilt onsets of the following vowels. Positive correlations among fundamental frequency, spectral tilt, and cepstral peak prominence were observed. The findings of this study will contribute to the phonetic documentation of endangered Dardic languages.