Purpose: Most acoustic and articulatory studies on /l/ have focused on either duration, formant frequencies, or tongue shape during the constriction interval. Only a limited set of data exists for the transition characteristics of /l/ to and from surrounding vowels. The aim of this study was to examine second formant (F2) transition…

Purpose: Speech acoustic characteristics of children with cerebral palsy (CP) were examined with a multiple speech subsystems approach; speech intelligibility was evaluated using a prediction model in which acoustic measures were selected to represent three speech subsystems. Method: Nine acoustic variables reflecting different subsystems, and…

Purpose: This study compared movement characteristics of markers attached to the jaw, lower lip, tongue blade, and dorsum during production of selected English vowels by normal speakers and speakers with dysarthria due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Parkinson disease (PD). The study asked the following questions: (a) Are movement…

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that talkers previously classified by Y.-C. Tsao and G. Weismer (1997) as habitually fast versus habitually slow would show differences in the way they manipulated articulation rate across the rate continuum. Method: Thirty talkers previously classified by Tsao and Weismer (1997)…

Describes the major types of acoustic analysis available for the study of speech, identifies equipment and other components needed for a modern speech-analysis laboratory, and lists possible measurements for various aspects of phonation, articulation, and resonance, as they might be seen in neurologically disordered speech. (Author/DB)

The primary objective of this position paper is to assess the theoretical and empirical support that exists for the Mayo Clinic view of motor speech disorders in general, and for oromotor, nonverbal tasks as a window to speech production processes in particular. Literature both in support of and against the Mayo clinic view and the associated use…

The ability to alter speaking rate was studied in nine adult subjects with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and nine control subjects. Results suggest that the relationship between speaking rate, articulation rate, pause duration, and pause frequency remained largely intact for the dysarthric speakers. Data showed greater dependence on pausing by the…

Articulatory discoordination is often said to be an important feature of the speech production disorder in dysarthria, but little experimental work has been done to identify and specify the coordination difficulties. The present study evaluated the coordination of labial and lingual gestures for /u/ production in persons with Parkinson's disease…

Acoustic data for 26 typically speaking 9 to 15 year olds for the /s/ frication were collected and evaluated. Analysis of the reference data set indicated that acoustic characterization of /s/ is appropriately and optimally obtained from the midpoint of /s/, represented in linear scale, referenced to individual linguistic-phonetic contexts,…

Purpose: This study was designed to determine whether within-speaker fluctuations in speech intelligibility occurred among speakers with dysarthria who produced a reading passage, and, if they did, whether selected linguistic and acoustic variables predicted the variations in speech intelligibility. Method: Participants with dysarthria included a…