JSLHR
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research Vol.44 1300-1314 December 2001. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2001/101)
© American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow My Folders
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Chen, H.
Right arrow Articles by Stevens, K. N.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Chen, H.
Right arrow Articles by Stevens, K. N.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

An Acoustical Study of the Fricative /s/ in the Speech of Individuals With Dysarthria

Helen Chen 1
Kenneth N. Stevens 1
1 Research Laboratory of Electronics Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge

stevens{at}speech.mit.edu

This paper reports on measurements of several acoustic attributes of the fricative consonant /s/ produced in word-initial position by normally speaking adults and by speakers with neuromotor dysfunctions. Several acoustic properties are evaluated: the spectrum shape of the fricative and its amplitude in relation to the following vowel, the presence or absence of voicing, the time variation of the spectrum during the fricative and in the transition to the following vowel, and the presence of inappropriate acoustic patterns preceding the /s/. Some of these properties are based on quantitative measurements of the spectrum of the /s/, and others are based on observations of the time-varying acoustic patterns in spectrograms. For the individuals with dysarthria, deviations of each of these properties from the normal range are interpreted in terms of specific deficits in the control of the speech-production system. For the most part, these parameters are highly correlated with the speakers' overall intelligibility, with the intelligibility of words containing the fricative /s/, and with perceptual ratings of the adequacy of the fricative production. The parameters that show the best correlation with intelligibility and perceptual ratings are (a) measures of deviations from normalcy in the time variation of the acoustic pattern within the consonant and at the consonant-vowel boundary and (b) the spectrum shape of the frication noise. These acoustic parameters are related to deviations in the temporal pattern of control of the articulators in producing fricative-vowel sequences and to lack of fine control of the tongue blade in achieving an appropriate target configuration for the fricative.

KEY WORDS: dysarthria, fricative /s/, acoustical measures of /s/, disorders of /s/ production

Submitted on April 24, 2001
Accepted on August 15, 2001


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
All ASHA Journals AJA AJSLP JSLHR LSHSS
Copyright © 2001 by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.