Selected Acoustic Characteristics of Pathologic and Normal Speakers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if measures of speaking fundamental frequency and its perturbation could be useful in differentiating talkers with no known vocal pathology and talkers with cancer of the larynx. Ten male subjects, five with a diagnosed malignancy of the larynx and five with normal voice, produced speech samples from which five voice production measures were obtained: the average speaking fundamental frequency (SFF), SFF variability during the reading of a sentence, the f 0 of a sustained vowel and a percent and magnitude jitter value. The perturbation factors, both directional and magnitudinal, during sustained vowels were found to be significant in discriminating normal talkers from those with laryngeal cancer. The speaking funda- mental frequency and its variability during the reading of a sentence improved the dis- criminant function.

Objective Voice Analysis of Iranian Speakers with Normal Voices

“…The mass of the vocal folds is larger and thicker in males 31 and also, males, on average, have a larynx which is about 40% taller and longer (measured along the axis of the vocal folds) than females, as seen Figures 1 and 2.Thus, all mentioned factors can justify the recent finding that the vocal pitch of females is usually higher than that of males and this result supports several previous studies. [32][33][34][35][36] The F 0 of vowel /i/ was significantly higher than the F 0 of vowel /â/ in all population and in both genders separately. This could be explained by the phenomenon of ''intrinsic pitch of vowels.''…”

Toward Improved Ecological Validity in the Acoustic Measurement of Overall Voice Quality: Combining Continuous Speech and Sustained Vowels

“…12,19,21,23,[27][28][29] For this reason, the first two sentences of a commonly used Dutch text were concatenated with three seconds of a sustained /a/ vowel. The 251 concatenated samples were perceptually rated on a four-point equal-appearing interval scale of overall voice quality (ie, ''G'' from GRBAS).…”

“…Several factors have contributed to this preference. 23,27,28 First, a sustained vowel represents relatively time-invariant phonation, whereas continuous speech involves rapid and frequent changes caused by glottal and supraglottal mechanisms. Second, in contrast to continuous speech, sustained mid-vowel segments do not contain nonvoiced phonemes, fast voice onsets and terminations, and prosodic fundamental frequency and amplitude fluctuations.…”

Reliable Jitter and Shimmer Measurements in Voice Clinics: The Relevance of Vowel, Gender, Vocal Intensity, and Fundamental Frequency Effects in a Typical Clinical Task

“…Small irregularities in the acoustic wave are considered as normal variation associated with physiologic body function and voice production. 10,11 However, voice perturbation levels have been shown to considerably increase according to laryngeal pathology [12][13][14] and to partially discriminate between functional voice disorder types. 15,16 Investigations combining a number of acoustic parameters and visual laryngeal assessment methods suggest that jitter and shimmer may be valuable predictors of voice pathology.…”