The effects of differential vowel prolongations on perceptions of speech naturalness

Schaeffer, Natalie; Eichorn, Naomi

doi:10.1016/s0094-730x(01)00101-2

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Several studies have shown satisfactory levels of agreement (defined as within 1 scale point) within and between judges (e.g., Martin & Haroldson, 1992; Martin et al, 1984), although others have reported less compelling results (e.g., Onslow, Adams, & Ingham, 1992). Changes in naturalness coinciding with disruptions in the natural flow of speech (Martin et al, 1984), and changes in speech naturalness as speech production variables such as voice onset time, sentence duration (Metz, Schiavetti, & Sacco, 1990), and vowel duration (Schaeffer & Eichorn, 2001) change have also been found. See Schiavetti and Metz (1997) for a comprehensive review of the reliability and validity of the scale.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Finn and Ingham reported standard deviations of approximately 2 during Reading-1.0 s in their study (mean was approximately 5), suggesting a range of scores across the 1–9 scale. It would be informative to see if changes in speech production variables are associated with changes in listener-judged naturalness during Reading-1.0 s, as was the case with, for example, voice onset time during a picture description task (Metz et al, 1990) and vowel duration during the reading of phrases (Schaeffer & Eichorn, 2001). If speech production changes are necessary (or helpful) for fluency during the experimental condition, we need to determine the impact of the changes on naturalness, in order to have a more complete understanding of the utility of Reading-1.0 s as a treatment agent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Systematic studies of modified vocalization: Speech production changes during a variation of metronomic speech in persons who do and do not stutter

Davidow

Bothe

2011

Journal of Fluency Disorders

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The most common way to induce fluency using rhythm requires persons who stutter to speak one syllable or one word to each beat of a metronome, but stuttering can also be eliminated when the stimulus is of a particular duration (e.g., 1 s). The present study examined stuttering frequency, speech production changes, and speech naturalness during rhythmic speech that alternated 1 s of reading with 1 s of silence. A repeated-measures design was used to compare data obtained during a control reading condition and during rhythmic reading in 10 persons who stutter (PWS) and 10 normally fluent controls. Ratings for speech naturalness were also gathered from naïve listeners. Results showed that mean vowel duration increased significantly, and the percentage of short phonated intervals decreased significantly, for both groups from the control to the experimental condition. Mean phonated interval length increased significantly for the fluent controls. Mean speech naturalness ratings during the experimental condition were approximately 7 on a 1–9 scale (1 = highly natural; 9 = highly unnatural), and these ratings were significantly correlated with vowel duration and phonated intervals for PWS. The findings indicate that PWS may be altering vocal fold vibration duration to obtain fluency during this rhythmic speech style, and that vocal fold vibration duration may have an impact on speech naturalness during rhythmic speech. Future investigations should examine speech production changes and speech naturalness during variations of this rhythmic condition. Educational Objectives The reader will be able to: (1) describe changes (from a control reading condition) in speech production variables when alternating between 1 s of reading and 1 s of silence, (2) describe which rhythmic conditions have been found to sound and feel the most natural, (3) describe methodological issues for studies about alterations in speech production variables during fluency-inducing conditions, and (4) describe which fluency-inducing conditions have been shown to involve a reduction in short phonated intervals.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematic studies of modified vocalization: Speech production changes during a variation of metronomic speech in persons who do and do not stutter

Davidow

Bothe

2011

Journal of Fluency Disorders

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“…Given that repeated sounds and words could be experimentally manipulated, is it possible to change a consonant or vowel within a word from fluent to one that is perceived to be a sound prolongation? In an effort to answer this question, Schaeffer and Eichorn (2001) studied how listeners perceived gradual increases in the duration of vowels embedded in a carrier phrase (i.e., "say ___ again"). Instead of investigating the point at which listeners consider sounds in a word as "normal" or "abnormal" in duration, they increased the vowel duration of target words by 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 Listeners' Perceptions of Sound Prolongations 4 150%, 200%, and 250%.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of duration and frequency of occurrence of voiceless fricatives on listeners’ perceptions of sound prolongations

Kawai

Healey

Carrell

2012

Journal of Communication Disorders

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“…Decreasing speaking rate alters articulatory movement [1,5], such that articulatory displacements and vocal tract shapes become more similar to those of healthy speakers [1,6]. However, rate manipulations also alter prosodic aspects of speech [7], resulting in a trade-off between improving speech clarity and speech naturalness [8]. Given that some speakers with DYS maintain control of prosodic cues (fundamental frequency, F0, intensity, and syllable duration) [9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17], reduced speaking rate may in fact compromise overall communicative effectiveness.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Rate Reduction on Signaling Prosodic Contrasts in Dysarthria

Patel

Connaghan²,

Campellone³

2013

Folia Phoniatr Logop

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Background/Aims: To understand how reducing speaking rate alters prosodic contrasts in speakers with dysarthria (DYS) and healthy controls (HC). Methods: Seven male speakers with DYS (mean age = 34.9) and 7 age- and sex-matched HC (mean age = 36.9) produced identical phrases with affirmative (A), contrastive stress (CS) or question (Q) intonation at habitual and slow rate within a naturalistic game. Relative (word-to-word) changes in peak fundamental frequency (F0), intensity, and duration were compared across conditions, groups, and rates. Results: For some contrasts, rate reduction differentially affected the speaking groups, with HC exaggerating and speakers with DYS dampening some prosodic cues. Rate reduction diminished the Q contrast for both groups, with reduced peak F0 differences for HC and reduced word duration differences for HC and with DYS speakers. Slow rate also resulted in decreased lengthening of the final word for all three contrasts, thereby diminishing the Q contrast while exaggerating the CS and A contrasts. Conclusion: Although slow rate may improve segmental intelligibility, it may inadvertently dampen prosodic contrasts for some DYS speakers, thereby impacting communication effectiveness and naturalness. Implications for designing interventions that balance trade-offs between prosodic modulation and segmental clarity are discussed.

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The effects of differential vowel prolongations on perceptions of speech naturalness

Cited by 10 publications

References 25 publications

Systematic studies of modified vocalization: Speech production changes during a variation of metronomic speech in persons who do and do not stutter

Systematic studies of modified vocalization: Speech production changes during a variation of metronomic speech in persons who do and do not stutter

The effects of duration and frequency of occurrence of voiceless fricatives on listeners’ perceptions of sound prolongations

The Effect of Rate Reduction on Signaling Prosodic Contrasts in Dysarthria

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