Biomaterial Database

Observed effects of velopharyngeal orifice size on vowel identification and vowel nasality. 1981

T Watterson, and F Emanuel

This study was designed to investigate possible effects of oral-nasal coupling on the nasality of both voiced and whispered test vowels and on the identification of voiced test vowels. One adult subject with cleft palate was fitted with a specially designed speech appliance that permitted alterations in the size of the velopharyngeal orifice. At each of the seven oral-nasal coupling conditions, the subject produced five repetitions of each of two test vowels (/i/ and /u/), first in a whisper and then with voicing. Magnetic recordings of the test samples were evaluated by a panel of nine listeners. The listeners rated the nasality of each sample and, for the voiced vowels, specified the vowel phoneme they perceived each to represent. The results suggest that listeners may be able to scale nasality more reliably for voiced than for whispered vowel samples. They also suggest that nasality and identifiability for vowels may vary complexly as a function of the size of the oral-nasal orifice.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D010160	Palate, Soft	A movable fold suspended from the posterior border of the hard palate. The uvula hangs from the middle of the lower border.	Velum Palatinum,Soft Palate,Palates, Soft,Palatinum, Velum
D010614	Pharynx	A funnel-shaped fibromuscular tube that conducts food to the ESOPHAGUS, and air to the LARYNX and LUNGS. It is located posterior to the NASAL CAVITY; ORAL CAVITY; and LARYNX, and extends from the SKULL BASE to the inferior border of the CRICOID CARTILAGE anteriorly and to the inferior border of the C6 vertebra posteriorly. It is divided into the NASOPHARYNX; OROPHARYNX; and HYPOPHARYNX (laryngopharynx).	Throat,Pharynxs,Throats
D002972	Cleft Palate	Congenital fissure of the soft and/or hard palate, due to faulty fusion.	Cleft Palate, Isolated,Cleft Palates,Palate, Cleft,Palates, Cleft
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults
D013061	Speech Acoustics	The acoustic aspects of speech in terms of frequency, intensity, and time.	Acoustics, Speech,Acoustic, Speech,Speech Acoustic
D013064	Speech Disorders	Acquired or developmental conditions marked by an impaired ability to comprehend or generate spoken forms of language.	Aprosodia,Aprosodic Speech,Cluttering,Dysglossia,Dyslalia,Rhinolalia,Verbal Fluency Disorders,Aprosodias,Clutterings,Dysglossias,Dyslalias,Rhinolalias,Speech, Aprosodic,Verbal Fluency Disorder
D013065	Speech Intelligibility	Ability to make speech sounds that are recognizable.	Intelligibilities, Speech,Intelligibility, Speech,Speech Intelligibilities
D013068	Speech Production Measurement	Measurement of parameters of the speech product such as vocal tone, loudness, pitch, voice quality, articulation, resonance, phonation, phonetic structure and prosody.	Measurement, Speech Production,Measurements, Speech Production,Production Measurement, Speech,Production Measurements, Speech,Speech Production Measurements