Voice Quality

This article presents the Database of Tonogenetic Events (DTE), which describes 259 tonogenetic events from 104 genealogically and geographically diverse language varieties. The DTE allows us to identify the main types of reported tonogenesis triggering contexts, the types of resultant tones, and their effects on pitch. We illustrate the usefulness of the database with case studies addressing (i) the frequency of different types of tonogenesis, (ii) the diachronic pathways linking phonological triggering context and resultant tone, and (iii) areal trends. We also discuss the shortcomings of the database with respect to the diachronic typological study of tone.

The present study aimed to compare actors/actresses's voices and vocally trained subjects through aerodynamic and electroglottographic (EGG) analyses. We hypothesized that glottal and breathing functions would reflect technical and physiological differences between vocally trained and untrained subjects. Forty participants with normal voices participated in this study (20 professional theater actors and 20 untrained participants). In each group, 10 male and 10 female subjects were assessed. All participants underwent aerodynamic and EGG assessment of voice. From the Phonatory Aerodynamic System, three protocols were used: comfortable sustained phonation with EGG, voice efficiency with EGG, and running speech. Contact quotient was calculated from EGG. All phonatory tasks were produced at three different loudness levels. Mean sound pressure level and fundamental frequency were also assessed. Univariate, multivariate, and correlation statistical analyses were performed. Main differ...

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of emotional expression in spectral energy distribution in professional theater actors. Study Design. The study design is a quasi-experimental study. Method. Thirty-seven actors, native Spanish speakers, were included. All subjects had at least 3 years of professional experience as a theater actor and no history of vocal pathology for the last 5 years. Participants were recorded during a read-aloud task of a 230-word passage, expressing six different emotions (happiness, sadness, fear, anger, tenderness, and eroticism) and without emotion (neutral state). Acoustical analysis with long-term average spectrum included three variables: the energy level difference between the F 1 and fundamental frequency (F 0 ) regions, ratio between 1-5 kHz and 5-8 kHz, and alpha ratio. Results. All the different emotions differ significantly from the neutral state for alpha ratio and 1-5/5-8 kHz ratio. Only significant differences between ''joy,'' ''anger,'' and ''eroticism'' were found for L1-L0 ratio. Statistically significant differences between genders for the three acoustical variables were also found. Conclusion. The expression of emotion impacts the spectral energy distribution. On the one hand emotional states characterized by a breathy voice quality such as tenderness, sadness, and eroticism present a low harmonic energy above 1 kHz, high glottal noise energy, and more energy on F 0 than overtones. On the other hand, emotional states such as joy, anger, and fear are characterized by high harmonic energy greater than 1 kHz (less steep spectral slope declination), low glottal noise energy, and more energy on the F 1 than F 0 region.

The cognitive neuroscience of language represents a convergent interdisciplinary approach that integrates linguistic theory, psychological mechanisms, and neural substrates to understand how the human brain enables our unique capacity for syntactic processing and communication. This comprehensive review examines three paradigmatic approaches through the work of Angela Friederici (neurobiology of syntax), Steven Pinker (evolutionary psycholinguistics), and Evelina Fedorenko (flexible network models). Through comparative analysis of these frameworks, we demonstrate how temporal dynamics, evolutionary constraints, and network flexibility provide complementary insights into language processing. The review synthesizes empirical evidence from electrophysiology, neuroimaging, and behavioral studies to address fundamental questions about neural architecture, evolutionary foundations, individual variation, and processing dynamics. Our analysis reveals convergent support for specialized brain mechanisms while highlighting productive theoretical tensions regarding domain-specificity, universality, and modularity. We conclude by identifying future research directions including multimodal neuroimaging, cross-linguistic validation, and applications to clinical practice and artificial intelligence. This synthesis advances our understanding of language as a uniquely human capacity while establishing a foundation for interdisciplinary collaboration across linguistics, psychology, and neuroscience.

This paper examines the articulatory correlates of the Hero and Villain Voice Types, which were auditorily identified in a separate study on cartoon voices, using the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique. In general, the MRI images were in good agreement with the previous auditory analysis results; the major characteristic difference between voice quality settings of heroes and those of villains and between two villainous voice types was found in the supraglottal states and the pharyngeal cavity. Auditory analysis can be as valid as acoustic or any other analysis method depending on the level of training in a commonly accepted system such as Laver's framework for voice quality description. However, the MRI technique also allowed us to see what would not be observed otherwise, e.g., larynx height, pharyngeal cavity, vocal tract length, and the position of the hyoid bone. Auditory and physiological methods should be used in combination in order to further our understanding of the larynx and the pharynx.

This study investigates the adaptation of voice quality between dialogue partners in natural spontaneous conversations using data from a German database containing approximately 20 hours of speech from 46 dialogues. The voice quality parameters are spectral decay ratios and relative bandwidth of the first formant. Spectral decay rates are estimated using amplitudes and frequencies of the harmonic peaks of the first and second harmonics and the harmonics near the first four formants. Results of linear mixed effects models predicting speakers’ current parameters from partners’ preceding ones indicate that speakers converge, i.e. consistently adapt several of these parameters to those of their partner. In some cases, the adaptation depends on mutual likeability and competence ratings, and can be negative. In addition, voice quality parameters vary with these ratings in general, indicating that perception of the partner has an effect on speakers’ voice quality irrespective of partners’ ...

Dans le domaine de la phonetique, l'analyse de la qualite de la voix est generalement integree dans l'etude des phenomenes paralinguistiques de la communication parlee (Laver, 1981). Actuellement, la majorite des etudes dans le domaine portent sur les relations entre l'etat emotionnel du locuteur et les indices acoustiques portes par le signal vocal, ou encore sur la variabilite de la qualite de la voix en fonction de facteurs dialectaux et socioculturels (Gobl et al., 2003). Dans notre cas, depuis une quinzaine d'annees (Giovanni et al., 1991), nous nous sommes penches plus particulierement sur les relations entre etat physiologique du locuteur et qualite vocale, notamment dans un cadre clinique de dysfonctionnement du systeme pneumo phonatoire.

The objective was to study the behavior of the larynx during shouted voice production, when the larynx is exposed to extremely high subglottic pressure. Materials and methods: The study involved electroglottographic, acoustic and aerodynamic analyses of shouts produced at maximum effort by three male participants. Results and discussion: Under a normal speaking voice, the voice sound pressure level (SPL) is proportional to the subglottic pressure. However, when the subglottic pressure reached high levels, the voice SPL reached a maximum value and then decreased as subglottic pressure increased further. Furthermore, the electroglottographic signal sometimes lost its periodicity during the shout, suggesting irregular vocal fold vibration.

The study aimed at measuring the effect of vocal loading (loud reading) on fundamental frequency (F0), throat temperature along with self-rating questionnaire before and after loud reading task. Methods: 50 (25 men and 25 women) normo-phonic adults participated in the study. Phonation sample of vowel /a/ for 6 seconds, thrice, measurement of throat temperature and a self-rating questionnaire was collected as baseline. Participants were provided with an English novel and were instructed to read at 70-80 dB SPL for 45 minutes. Fundamental frequency, throat temperature and scores from the self-rating questionnaire were compared between pre-reading and post-reading conditions. Entire experiment was carried out in an air-conditioned room at 25 ℃. Results: Statistically significant difference was observed within groups for fundamental frequency, throat temperature and scores of self-rating questionnaire. However, statistical significance was seen only in fundamental frequency and self-rating questionnaire. This study describes the potential use of thermal imaging to be used alongside other measures (acoustics) in assessing vocal load.

Vocal cord paresis or paralysis occurs due to lesion in the vagus nerve. Vocal cord paralysis can lead to dysphonia as well as dysphagia which lead the patient to frustration and emotional problems. The literature available on the etiology and the problems faced by them in Indian population is very scanty. Hence a prospective study was done on 41 Patients with vocal cord palsy who were referred to the Department of ENT for voice assessment and management from March 1st 2012 till 1st August 2012. The medical and surgical reports were examined. They were evaluated by an otorhinolaryngologist, and a Speech Language Pathologist. Diagnosis was made based on video stroboscopic findings. We also examined voice-related quality of life (V-RQOL) outcomes in these patients. In this study, endo-tracheal intubation (15/41; 36.5%) was the major cause of vocal cord palsy. The second major cause for vocal cord palsy in our study was surgical trauma (iatrogenic) which constituted 26.8% (11/41), out of which thyroidectomy contributed to 81.81% (9/11) and cardiac surgery (Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) contributed to 18.18% (2/11). Neurological problems caused 14.63% (6/41) of the total cases. Non-surgical trauma constituted 9.75% (4/41) of the total patients. Left recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis was found as a complication of heart disease in 7.3%(3/41). Tuberculosis of lungs and cancer of lungs accounted to be the rarest causes. Hoarseness of voice was the most common symptom with associated dysphagia in a few. The voice related quality of life of these patients was found to be poor. They were found to have problems in the social-emotional domain and physical functioning domain.

Background: Supracricoid laryngectomies (SL) were introduced to radically treat laryngeal tumors while respecting laryngeal function. Despite SL with cricohyoidoepiglottopexy (CHEP) allows good functional results in terms of swallowing, breathing function and voice quality, older age has been traditionally considered a contraindication to SL. Aim of this study is to investigate the functional outcomes of SL with CHEP among elderly patients (age older than 70 years) and compare them with those obtained in younger subjects submitted to CHEP for laryngeal cancer. Materials and methods: Thirty-eight (36M, 2F; mean age: 61.9 years, age range: 51-79 years) patients were submitted to SL with CHEP for laryngeal carcinoma between January 2012 and December 2015. Preoperative endoscopic and imaging assessment was carried out. The surgical treatment performed was CHEP with preservation of both arytenoids (CHEP+AA) in 10 (68.4%) cases and with preservation of one arytenoid (CHEP+A) in 28 (31.6%)...

While the term tessitura is often poorly defined and loosely applied, certain statements about its application to singers and their repertoire may be made. For vocal repertoire, tessitura refers to the prevailing note or range of notes in a vocal line. For singers, it refers to the area in which the voice is most comfortably resonant. The definition most frequently used to capture the concept in relation to both singer and repertoire is the range of pitches where a voice or song "sits". While attempts have been made to quantify tessitura, most references to this term remain largely subjective. This study attempts to objectively measure tessitura by redefining it as an average pitch. A protocol was developed based on Rastall's formula for calculating a pitch centre of gravity (PCG), taking into account not just the frequency of pitches, but also their duration. This protocol was used to measure changes in tessitura in soprano music theatre repertoire from the 1920s to the 2000s. Although anecdotally recognised by pedagogues and practitioners, the hypothesis that the tessitura of female music theatre repertoire has lowered over time has never been formally tested, despite the existence of parallel studies on the lowering of speaking fundamental frequency (SFF). The results of our study revealed a statistically significant lowering of tessitura in soprano music theatre repertoire over time. The implications of this, and further possible applications of the methodology, are discussed.

OBJETIVO: Realizar a avaliação laringológica, análise perceptivo-auditiva e acústica computadorizada das vozes de adultos jovens fumantes e não-fumantes, sem queixa vocal, compará-las e verificar a incidência de alterações laríngeas. FORMA DE ESTUDO: Caso-controle. MATERIAL E MÉTODO: Foram analisadas as vozes de 80 indivíduos com idades compreendidas entre 20 e 40 anos. Estes foram divididos em quatro grupos: 20 homens fumantes, 20 homens não-fumantes, 20 mulheres fumantes e 20 mulheres não-fumantes. Este estudo envolveu laringoscopia, realizada e interpretada por uma médica otorrinolaringologista, e gravação em fita cassete das vogais sustentadas /a/, /m/, /i/ e /u/, contagem dos números de 1 a 20, emissão dos dias da semana, dos meses do ano e da canção "Parabéns a você". A gravação em fita cassete foi editada para posterior análise espectrográfica e avaliação perceptiva auditiva por quatro avaliadores com experiência na área de voz. RESULTADOS: Após a análise, foi const...

The article presents selected objective and subjective methods to assess the quality of voice services in telephone communication. The authors described the impact of the line and acoustic echo phenomena and ambient noise on the functions of telephone communication systems with respect to the speakerphone mode. Additionally, they discussed the possibilities to apply digital technology to improve the quality of voice services in telephone communication and alarm systems.

Prominence in speech refers to the emphasis placed on certain words or syllables in English, making their salience through increased duration, increased intensity, and sometimes f0 dynamics. By marking acoustic prominence, speakers distinguish new from given information in speech. While a large body of relevant literature exists on how acoustic prominence is acoustically realized in typically developing (TD) children, little is known about how children with Down syndrome (DS) mark it. In this study, a "Puppet Show" task was conducted with 22 TD children and ten children with DS, one of whom was excluded because they were unable to produce the required target utterances despite multiple attempts, to compare the acoustic parameters used when distinguishing new and given information, focusing on mean f0, mean intensity, duration, and time-normalized f0. By using linear mixed-effects models and generalized additive mixed models, we demonstrated that children with DS have significantly higher overall mean f0 and lower intensity compared to TD children. The duration was not significantly different between the two groups. Our analysis further revealed distinct f0 contour patterns in the speech of DS children. While TD children exhibited clear rising and falling f0 contours to signal new and given information, DS children showed less controlled f0 contour patterns.

Introdução: o fonoaudiólogo é o profissional envolvido no aperfeiçoamento da locução com radialistas, cujo trabalho engloba aspectos de orientação, treinamento e aperfeiçoamento de voz e fala. Objetivo: analisar os efeitos de uma proposta de intervenção fonoaudiológica em um jornalista deficiente visual. Apresentação do caso: este estudo de caso, de caráter descritivo e qualitativo, contou com a participação de um jornalista deficiente visual, de 32 anos, que foi submetido a uma anamnese, avaliação perceptivo-auditiva e análise acústica da voz. A coleta de amostra de fala foi constituída de vogais /a/, /i/ e /u/ sustentadas, bem como as fricativas /s/ e /z/ e fala encadeada. A maior dificuldade apresentada nesse momento foi relacionada à expressividade oral, uma vez que o sujeito apresentou extensão vocal restrita e pouca abertura de boca durante a articulação. Descrição do processo terapêutico: após a avaliação, o mesmo submeteu-se a oito sessões individuais semanais de trinta minutos, com a realização de exercícios específicos de articulação, frequência habitual, respiração e ressonância bem como de extensão vocal (expressividade), com aumento da extensão fonatória e dinâmica. Com o término das sessões, o participante foi reavaliado da mesma forma que anteriormente. Ao final do processo, observaram-se melhoras nos parâmetros trabalhados. Considerações finais: Acredita-se que seja necessário maior tempo de atuação fonoaudiológica com sujeitos deficientes visuais, pois o aperfeiçoamento vocal utiliza pistas visuais, como expressões faciais e corporais, visualização de imagens e leitura. É necessário fazer uso de estratégias alternativas, de forma adaptada, com ênfase em recursos auditivos e táteis.

Para o professor, a voz é relevante no desempenho profi ssional. A expressividade é essencial para atuação em sala de aula. Objetivo: Avaliar qualidade da voz, variação de loudness e pitch, alongamento da sílaba, velocidade de fala, pausa e articulação, presentes na fala de quatro professoras do ensino médio. Métodos: As professoras foram selecionadas pela disponibilidade e interesse em participar da pesquisa e identifi cadas como P1, P2, P3 e P4. As aulas gravadas numa mesma sala de aula, para que as professoras estivessem expostas à mesma quantidade de alunos e ruído ambiente. Os trechos de fala foram analisados por futuros professores, alunos de Pedagogia. Avaliaram a expressividade oral das professoras, classifi cando-a como motivadora, agradável, prende atenção e transmite fi rmeza ou hesitação, assinalando uma ordem de preferência quanto à maneira de falar das professoras. Quatro juízes fonoaudiólogos realizaram a análise perceptivo-auditiva. Resultados: Os alunos elegeram P3 como preferida, pela fala clara, objetiva e boa dicção, expressividade oral motivadora, agradável, prendeu a atenção. P2 apresentou fala repetitiva, utilizando-se muito da expressão "tá", expressividade oral agradável e fi rme; P1, porque falou rápido e sem pausas, teve expressividade oral considerada desagradável, mas transmitiu fi rmeza; e P4, porque gritou e falou com voz aguda e estridente, teve expressividade oral desagradável e hesitante. Conclusões: O modo de falar das professoras infl uenciou de maneira positiva e negativa. A velocidade de fala, o emprego da pausa, a qualidade da voz e a intensidade vocal foram aspectos valorizados pelos alunos, e determinantes na escolha da ordem de preferência das professoras.

Introdução: o fonoaudiólogo é o profissional envolvido no aperfeiçoamento da locução com radialistas, cujo trabalho engloba aspectos de orientação, treinamento e aperfeiçoamento de voz e fala. Objetivo: analisar os efeitos de uma proposta de intervenção fonoaudiológica em um jornalista deficiente visual. Apresentação do caso: este estudo de caso, de caráter descritivo e qualitativo, contou com a participação de um jornalista deficiente visual, de 32 anos, que foi submetido a uma anamnese, avaliação perceptivo-auditiva e análise acústica da voz. A coleta de amostra de fala foi constituída de vogais /a/, /i/ e /u/ sustentadas, bem como as fricativas /s/ e /z/ e fala encadeada. A maior dificuldade apresentada nesse momento foi relacionada à expressividade oral, uma vez que o sujeito apresentou extensão vocal restrita e pouca abertura de boca durante a articulação. Descrição do processo terapêutico: após a avaliação, o mesmo submeteu-se a oito sessões individuais semanais de trinta minutos, com a realização de exercícios específicos de articulação, frequência habitual, respiração e ressonância bem como de extensão vocal (expressividade), com aumento da extensão fonatória e dinâmica. Com o término das sessões, o participante foi reavaliado da mesma forma que anteriormente. Ao final do processo, observaram-se melhoras nos parâmetros trabalhados. Considerações finais: Acredita-se que seja necessário maior tempo de atuação fonoaudiológica com sujeitos deficientes visuais, pois o aperfeiçoamento vocal utiliza pistas visuais, como expressões faciais e corporais, visualização de imagens e leitura. É necessário fazer uso de estratégias alternativas, de forma adaptada, com ênfase em recursos auditivos e táteis.

The purpose of this study was to compare nasalance values in tracheoesophageal (TE) voice prosthesis and laryngeal speakers. Nasalance measures were obtained from 10 age-matched male TE speakers and 10 healthy male laryngeal speakers reading the Zoo Passage and Nasal Sentences. All TE speakers were rated as good to excellent in terms of speech proficiency and intelligibility. Nasalance scores were compared across groups. The findings revealed there were no significant differences in average nasalance values between the two groups. Clinical implications and future research needs are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to quantify perceived hypernasality in children. One-third octave spectra of the isolated vowel [i] were obtained from 32 children with cleft palate and 5 children without cleft palate. Four experienced listeners rated the severity of hypernasality of the 37 speech samples using a 6-point equal-appearing interval scale. When the average 1/3-octave spectra from the hypernasal group and the normal resonance group were compared, spectral characteristics of hypernasality were identified as increased amplitudes between F1 and F2 and decreased amplitudes in the region of F2. Based on the findings of the children’s speech, 36 speech samples with manipulated spectral characteristics were used to minimize the influences of voice source characteristics on perceived hypernasality. Multiple regression analysis revealed a high correlation (R=0.84) between the amplitudes of 1/3-octave bands (1 k, 1.6 k, and 2.5 kHz) and the perceptual ratings. Increased amplitudes of...

Hirata and Whiton [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 118, 1647-1660 (2005)] found an invariant durational structure for Japanese stop quantity distinction in two- and three-mora words across different speaking rates. The present study examined whether their finding extends to include fricative and affricate quantity distinctions and three- and four-mora words. Stimuli were stop, fricative, and affricate contrasts in four types of words, including (1) a long vowel (e.g., ka.so.o vs. ka.s.so.o), (2) a moraic nasal (e.g., ji.se.n vs. ji.s.se.n), (3) CV sequence (e.g., ho.so.ku vs. ho.s.so.ku), and (4) shorter words (e.g., i.shi vs. i.s.shi), spoken in isolation at three speaking rates by four native Japanese speakers. Duration of contrasting obstruents, words, and the interval between the onsets of the first and the second vowels (VOI) was measured. Results indicated durational patterns similar to those found previously for stop contrasts. In addition, duration of words, regardless of their segmenta...

This paper explores whether a speaker's voice quality, de®ned as the perceived timbre of someone's speech, changes as a function of variation in speech melody. Analyses are based on several productions of the vowel `a', provided with dierent intonation patterns. It appears that in general fundamental frequency covaries with the `strength relationship' between the ®rst two harmonics (H1±H2). That relationship determines the voice quality to some extent, and is often claimed to re¯ect open quotient. However, correlating the H1±H2 measure to parameters of the LF-model reveals that both the open quotient and the skewness of the glottal pulse have an impact on the lower part of the harmonic spectrum.

The characterization of voice quality is important for the diagnosis of a voice disorder. Vocal fry is a voice quality which is traditionally characterized by a low frequency and a long closed phase of the glottis. However, we also observed amplitude modulated vocal fry glottal area waveforms (GAWs) without long closed phases (positive group) which we modelled using an analysis-by-synthesis approach. Natural and synthetic GAWs are modelled. The negative group consists of euphonic, i.e., normophonic GAWs. The analysis-by-synthesis approach fits two modelled GAWs for each of the input GAW. One modelled GAW is modulated to replicate the amplitude and frequency modulations of the input GAW and the other modelled GAW is unmodulated. The modelling errors of the two modelled GAWs are determined to classify the GAWs into the positive and the negative groups using a simple support vector machine (SVM) classifier with a linear kernel. The modelling errors of all vocal fry GAWs obtained using the modulating model are smaller than the modelling errors obtained using the unmodulated model. Using the two modelling errors as predictors for classification, no false positives or false negatives are obtained. To further distinguish the subtypes of amplitude modulated vocal fry GAWs, the entropy of the modulator's power spectral density and the modulator-to-carrier frequency ratio are obtained.

Vocal fry is a voice quality that occurs in a healthy voice, but it can also be a sign of a voice disorder. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the parameters of voice production, a dedicated psychoacoustic feature, and the perceptual aspects of vocal fry. Two perceptual experiments were carried out to determine whether the fundamental frequency, the open quotient, and the glottal area pulse skewness affect the perception of vocal fry in synthetic vowels. Thirteen listeners participated in the perceptual experiments to assess the following attributes: binary fry (yes/no) and impulsiveness, tonality, and naturalness (7-point Likert scales). The results suggest that the perception of vocal fry is mainly triggered by a low fundamental frequency, but the open quotient also plays a role, with narrower glottal area pulses slightly increasing the probability of perceived fry. Perceived tonality is inversely related to perceived impulsiveness. Internal reference standard...

The characterization of voice quality is important for the diagnosis of a voice disorder. Vocal fry is a voice quality which is traditionally characterized by a low frequency and a long closed phase of the glottis. However, we also observed amplitude modulated vocal fry glottal area waveforms (GAWs) without long closed phases (positive group) which we modelled using an analysis-by-synthesis approach. Natural and synthetic GAWs are modelled. The negative group consists of euphonic, i.e., normophonic GAWs. The analysis-by-synthesis approach fits two modelled GAWs for each of the input GAW. One modelled GAW is modulated to replicate the amplitude and frequency modulations of the input GAW and the other modelled GAW is unmodulated. The modelling errors of the two modelled GAWs are determined to classify the GAWs into the positive and the negative groups using a simple support vector machine (SVM) classifier with a linear kernel. The modelling errors of all vocal fry GAWs obtained using ...

Vocal fry is a voice quality that occurs in a healthy voice, but it can also be a sign of a voice disorder. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the parameters of voice production, a dedicated psychoacoustic feature, and the perceptual aspects of vocal fry. Two perceptual experiments were carried out to determine whether the fundamental frequency, the open quotient, and the glottal area pulse skewness affect the perception of vocal fry in synthetic vowels. Thirteen listeners participated in the perceptual experiments to assess the following attributes: binary fry (yes/no) and impulsiveness, tonality, and naturalness (7-point Likert scales). The results suggest that the perception of vocal fry is mainly triggered by a low fundamental frequency, but the open quotient also plays a role, with narrower glottal area pulses slightly increasing the probability of perceived fry. Perceived tonality is inversely related to perceived impulsiveness. Internal reference standards of listeners appear to have fixed elements but may also be affected by anchoring and the short-term (i.e., within-vowel) context of the stimuli. In addition, the prominence of the peaks observed in the loudness curve over time appears to be related to graduations of fry.

Purpose The present study examined vocal SPL, voice handicap, and speech characteristics in Parkinson’s disease (PD) following an extended version of the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT), to help determine whether current treatment dosages can be altered without compromising clinical outcomes. Method Twelve participants with idiopathic PD received the extended treatment version (LSVT-X), similar to LSVT except that it was administered twice a week in 1-hr sessions over 8 weeks and required substantially more home practice. Recordings were made in a sound-treated booth immediately before and after treatment, and again 6 months later. Vocal SPL was measured for 4 different tasks and compared with data from a previous study, in which participants with PD received traditional LSVT 4 times a week for 4 weeks. Listener ratings were conducted with audio samples from both studies, using sentence pairs from a standard passage. LSVT-X participants completed the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) ...

This paper presents a computational approach to derive interpretable movement primitives from speech articulation data. It puts forth a convolutive Nonnegative Matrix Factorization algorithm with sparseness constraints (cNMFsc) to decompose a given data matrix into a set of spatiotemporal basis sequences and an activation matrix. The algorithm optimizes a cost function that trades off the mismatch between the proposed model and the input data against the number of primitives that are active at any given instant. The method is applied to both measured articulatory data obtained through electromagnetic articulography as well as synthetic data generated using an articulatory synthesizer. The paper then describes how to evaluate the algorithm performance quantitatively and further performs a qualitative assessment of the algorithm's ability to recover compositional structure from data. This is done using pseudo ground-truth primitives generated by the articulatory synthesizer based ...

Setting: University cancer referral center. Patients: Two cohorts of consecutive patients willing to participate after treatment for primary T1a midcord glottic carcinoma with laser surgery (18 of 23 eligible) or radiotherapy (16 of 18 eligible). Main Outcome Measures: Posttreatment voice quality was evaluated according to a multidimensional voice protocol based on validated European Laryngological Society recommendations, including perceptual, acoustic, aerodynamic, and stroboscopic analyses, together with patient self-assessment using the Voice Handicap Index. Results: Approximately half of the patients had mild to moderate voice dysfunction in the perceptual analysis (53% [8 of 15] in the radiotherapy group and 61% [11 of 18] in the laser surgery group) and on the Voice Handicap Index (44% [7 of 16] in the radiotherapy group and 56% [10 of 18] in the laser surgery group). The voice profile in the laser surgery group was mainly breathy; in the radiotherapy group, it was equally breathy and rough, with a trend for more jitter in the acoustic analysis. There was no statistical difference in the severity of voice dysfunction between the groups in any of the variables. Conclusions: Endoscopic laser surgery offers overall voice quality equivalent to that of radiotherapy for patients with T1a midcord glottic carcinoma, although specific voice profiles may ultimately be different for the 2 modalities. We believe that endoscopic laser surgery is the preferred treatment in these patients because it provides oncologic control similar to that of radiotherapy and the additional benefits of lower costs, shorter treatment time, and the possibility of successive procedures.

We tested the applicability of the Goettinger Hoarseness Diagram (GHD) for quantitative evaluation of voice disorders after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and compared the obtained data with those from established voice analysis systems such as the Multi-Dimensional Voice Program (MDVP), electroglottography (EGG) and perceptual ratings using sustained vowel productions from 10 patients with TBI dysarthrophonia at late stages postinjury and of 10 healthy control speakers. Statistical analyses revealed significant intergroup differences with respect to various acoustic and perceptual measures, i.e., irregularity component, noise component, noise-to-harmonic ratio, shimmer, jitter, roughness, creakiness, strained-strangledness, hypernasality. By contrast, the considered EGG estimates, i.e., open quotient and speed quotient, did not allow for separation of patients and controls. In addition, the two GHD components exhibited close correlations to perceived roughness and creakiness, ...

While efforts to document endangered languages have steadily increased, the phonetic analysis of endangered language data remains a challenge. The transcription of large documentation corpora is, by itself, a tremendous feat. Yet, the process of segmentation remains a bottleneck for research with data of this kind. This paper examines whether a speech processing tool, forced alignment, can facilitate the segmentation task for small data sets, even when the target language differs from the training language. The authors also examined whether a phone set with contextualization outperforms a more general one. The accuracy of two forced aligners trained on English (hmalign and p2fa) was assessed using corpus data from Yoloxóchitl Mixtec. Overall, agreement performance was relatively good, with accuracy at 70.9% within 30 ms for hmalign and 65.7% within 30 ms for p2fa. Segmental and tonal categories influenced accuracy as well. For instance, additional stop allophones in hmalign's ph...

Schools, and to analyze the levels of noise in classrooms and intelligibility of the teacher's voices in the same schools. Methods: the present study was performed in five all-day schools and half-day schools in the city of Petrolina/PE, Brazil. Three classrooms in each school were evaluated (n=15) in the morning and in the afternoon shifts. Eighteen teachers participated in the study and the following instruments were used: Quality of Life in Voice Protocol (QVV) and a semi-structured interview script. In order to verify noise, a decibel meter and a dosimeter were used. Results: Teachers had lower vocal quality of life in the total and physical domains, while most reported feeling vocal alterations. On the other hand, the environmental analysis indicated high levels of noise and a possible interference in the intelligibility of the teacher's speeches. Conclusion: The data demonstrate the need for more studies regarding the topic, and more care with the voices of the teachers.

In Finland there is a rather big public concern about indoor air quality and it's effect on health especially in buildings with suspected dampness. Many employees complain about voice problems and respiratory symptoms in such environments. Methacholine is widely used as a nonspecific irritant for airways in diagnosing asthma. In spirometry the inspiratory curves reflect mainly laryngeal dimensions. There is a common interest among pulmonologists on laryngeal reactions. It appears that a significant proportion of asthma diagnosis are false and may be implications of laryngeal constriction under variable exposures, some even to poor indoor air quality. Methods: Participants in the present study were 32 volunteers (female n=26, male n=6, mean age 44 years, range 22-60 years) who have suffered voice or respiratory symptoms due to exposure to poor air quality in a building with water damage. Participants went through a methacholine challenge test (MCT) with expirograms and inspirograms and a phoniatric videolaryngostroboscopy was done. Voice samples were recorded before and after MCT with a head-mounted condenser microphone and the laryngoscopy was done separately. The Acoustic Voice Quality Index 02.02 (Praat) and the inverse filtering (Aparat) analyses were executed. The participants were divided into two groups depending on their results of the inspirograms and/or whether they got hoarse after MCT. Results: Twenty of the participants had 25% or more and twelve had less than 25% deterioration in their inspirogram after MCT. The groups differed significantly from each other before MCT for the inverse filtering parameter Open Quotient (p<0.05). After MCT the groups differed significantly for acoustic parameters AVQI 02.02, CPPS and HNR (p<0.05). The phoniatric finding of the degree of the muscle tension dysphonia (MTD) and the inverse filtering parameter QOQ had low significant negative correlation with each other (Spearman's rho -0.41, p=0.05). Also the phoniatric finding of the forward pending corniculate arytenoid cartilages during forced breathing had low but significant correlation with the inverse filtering parameters QOQ (Spearman's rho -0.36, p=0.05) and NAQ (Spearman's rho -0.36, p=0.05). The results of this preliminary study indicate that the acoustic and the inverse filtering analyses of voice material could be one of the diagnostic tools detecting laryngeal problems among patients suffering from poor indoor air quality. A larger study group is needed in the future to confirm the results of the present preliminary study.

The present study aimed at measuring the smoothed and non-smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPS and CPP) in teachers who considered themselves to have normal voice but some of them had laryngeal pathology. The changes of CPP, CPPS, sound pressure level (SPL) and perceptual ratings with different voice tasks were investigated and the influence of vocal pathology on these measures was studied. Method: Eighty four Finnish female primary school teachers volunteered as participants. Laryngoscopically, 52.4 % of these had laryngeal changes (39.3 % mild, 13.1 % disordered). Sound recordings were made for phonations of comfortable sustained vowel, comfortable speech and speech produced at increased loudness levels as used during teaching. CPP, CPPS and SPL values were extracted using Praat software for all three voice samples. Sound samples were also perceptually evaluated by five voice experts for overall voice quality (10 point scale from poor to excellent) and vocal firmness (10 point scale from breathy to pressed, with normal in the middle). Results: The CPP, CPPS and SPL values were significantly higher for vowels than for comfortable speech and for loud speech compared to comfortable speech (p<0.001). The loud speech was perceived to be firmer and have a better voice quality than comfortable speech. No significant relationships of the laryngeal status with cepstral values, perceptual ratings or voice SPLs were found (p>0.05). Neither cepstral measures nor perceptual evaluations could clearly distinguish teachers with laryngeal changes from laryngeally healthy teachers. Considering no vocal complaints of the subjects, the data could be considered representative of teachers with functionally healthy voice.

The effect of electrical stimulation of the denervated posterior cricoarytenoid (PCA) muscle on its subsequent reinnervation was explored in the canine. Eight animals were implanted with a planar array of 36 electrodes for chronic stimulation and recording of spontaneous and evoked electromyographic (EMG) potentials across the entire fan-shaped surface of a muscle pair. Normative EMG data were recorded from each electrode site before unilateral nerve section, and from the innervated partner after nerve section. After randomizing the animals to experimental and control groups, the right recurrent laryngeal nerve innervating the PCA abductor muscle and its adductor antagonists was sectioned and reanastomosed. The PCA muscle in four experimental animals was continuously stimulated during the 11-mo experiment,musing a 1-s, 30-pps, biphasic pulse train composed of 1-ms pulses 2– 6mA in amplitude and repeated every 10 s. The remaining four animals served as nonstimulated controls. Appropriate reinnervation by native inspiratory motoneurons was indexed behaviorally by the magnitude of vocal fold opening and electromyographically by the potential across all electrode sites. Inappropriate reinnervation by foreign adductor motoneurons was quantitated by recording EMG potentials evoked reflexly by stimulation of sensory afferents of the laryngeal mucosa. All four experimental animals showed a greater level of correct PCA muscle reinnervation (P<0.0064) and a lesser level of incorrect reinnervation (P<0.0084) than the controls. Direct muscle stimulation also appeared to enhance the overall magnitude of reinnervation, but the effect was not as strong (P<0.113). These findings are consistent with a previous report and suggest that stimulation of a mammalian muscle may profoundly affect its receptivity to reinnervation by a particular motoneuron type.

Objectives: In this study, it is aimed to examine the effects of septoplasty, functional endoscopic sinus surgery and septorhinoplasty on the acoustics of Turkish nasal consonants.
Methods: The prospective study was conducted by taking voice recordings of 72 patients preoperative, 1st and 3rd months postoperative and based on changes in nasalance values. Patients were asked to read aloud the predetermined speech materials. The speech materials were recorded and analyzed using the Praat Assisted Nasalance Meter (PANM) system. The effect of the type of surgery was investigated for the change of nasalance values in the 1st and 3rd months after surgery compared to the preoperative value.
Results: Septoplasty and functional endoscopic sinus surgery groups showed significant increases in nasal consonants and nasal sentence nasalance values in both male and female after surgery compared to the preoperative value. (p<0.05) In the septorhinoplasty group, no significant changes were observed in the values after surgery compared to the preoperative value in male patients (p>0.05). In the female septorhinoplasty group, nasalance values decreased after surgery compared to the preoperative value, but no significant differences were detected. (p>0.05).
Conclusion: Comprehensive information about the potential for resonance changes following rhinological surgery should be provided to professional voice users. Clear communication of results can support more informed decision making, manage patient expectations, and reduce the risk of postoperative dissatisfaction with voice quality.

The current study is a conversational analytic study of Arabic-French code switching among Algerian bilinguals in some TV talk shows. The first objective of this study is to reveal the aspects of language negotiation among Algerian bilinguals. The second one is to find out what code switching may display about the participants’ language preference and bilingual competence. The last objective is to understand how code switching is employed by Algerian bilinguals to organize their conversations. A sequential (turn-by-turn) analysis was conducted to examine a corpus of four (4) excerpts extracted from three different Algerian TV talk shows, following Auer’s (1984) theory of conversational code switching (1984). This qualitative analysis revealed that the Algerian bilinguals tend to negotiate the language of interaction through sequences of language convergence and language divergence during their exchange of turns. It was also found that code switching gives an insight about the interl...

Vocal imitation guides both music and language development. Despite the developmental significance of this behavior, a sizable minority of individuals are inaccurate at vocal pitch imitation. Although previous research suggested that inaccurate pitch imitation results from deficient sensorimotor associations between pitch perception and vocal motor planning, the cognitive processes involved in sensorimotor translation are not clearly defined. In the present research, we investigated the roles of basic cognitive processes in the vocal imitation of pitch, as well as the degree to which these processes rely on pitch-specific resources. In the present study, participants completed a battery of pitch and verbal tasks to measure pitch perception, pitch and verbal auditory imagery, pitch and verbal auditory short-term memory, and pitch imitation ability. Information on participants' music background was collected, as well. Pitch imagery, pitch short-term memory, pitch discrimination ability, and musical experience were unique predictors of pitch imitation ability. Furthermore, pitch imagery was a partial mediator of the relationship between pitch short-term memory and pitch imitation ability. These results indicate that vocal imitation recruits cognitive processes that rely on at least partially separate neural resources for pitch and verbal representations.

Previous experiments have documented an advantage for vocal pitch-matching when participants sing back a short melody, in contrast to when participants attempt to imitate the pitch contour of spoken English. These results appear to confirm recent claims that music involves greater precision of pitch than speech. A re-analysis of these data is reported here that focuses on imitation of pitch trajectories within sung notes or spoken syllables. When analyzed this way, the domain-based difference reverses and speech imitation exhibits an advantage relative to song imitation. These results suggest that domain-specific advantages in imitation vary as a function of timescale.

Scientists studying music and evolution often discuss similarities and differences between music, language, and bird song, but few studies have simultaneously compared these three domains quantitatively. One of the striking features often considered to distinguish music from speech is pitch discreteness. Here we devised two approaches for quanti- fying pitch discreteness and measured its correlation to human ratings. We utilized a small subset of 9 recordings of human music, human speech, and bird song selected to maximize variation within and between these three domains. Our quantitative analyses confirmed that both methods achieved substantial correlations with subjective ratings of pitch discreteness (r = -0.6). However, both methods suggest that human judgment of pitch discreteness does not necessarily correlate to the “flatness” of fundamental frequency (F0) contours potentially due to some non-linear or cognitive factors involved in pitch perception. Our study suggests that it...

Expertise 5 professional musicians 5 professional singers 4 music students 4 speech therapists ___ Musical or vocal practice OK ___ Audiometry ___ OK MBEA (Peretz et al., 2003) ___ OK Production task « Happy Birthday » ___ OK March 3rd 2014 Larrouy-Maestri & Pfordresher Results March 3rd 2014 Larrouy-Maestri & Pfordresher Perception of musical errors Conclusions 11  Perception of pitch accuracy based on n interval errors for all n + tonality for music experts  Better evaluation for small deviation March 3rd 2014 Larrouy-Maestri & Pfordresher Between the tones March 3rd 2014 Larrouy-Maestri & Pfordresher 16 March 3rd 2014 Larrouy-Maestri & Pfordresher  30 non musicians (M = 21.33 years; SD = 2.45)  Two times with 8 to 15 days in between Participants and procedure 17 Method of limits van Besouw et al., 2008 March 3rd 2014 Larrouy-Maestri & Pfordresher How the model fits the datas 30  Database n Pfordresher & Mantell (2014) n 12 "poor" and 17 "good" singers n Imitation of accurate singers n Melodies of 4 notes n 1902 tones to analyse  Distribution (Shapiro-Wilk p<.001)  Not different depending on the quality of the singer

There has been a recent surge of research on the topic of poor-pitch singing. However, this research has not addressed an important distinction in measurement: that between accuracy and precision. With respect to singing, accuracy refers to the average difference between sung and target pitches. Precision, by contrast, refers to the consistency of repeated attempts to produce a pitch. A group of 45 non-musician participants was asked to vocally imitate unfamiliar 5-note melodies, as well as to sing a series of familiar melodies from memory (e.g., Happy Birthday). The results showed that singers were more accurate than they were precise, and that a majority of participants could justifiably be categorized as imprecise singers. Accuracy and precision measures were correlated with one another, and conditional-probability analyses suggested that accuracy predicted precision more so than the converse. Finally, performance differences across groups of singers were greater for the imitatio...

In this study, we investigated how practice imitations of speech impacted imitations of songs and vice versa. Participants were first asked to practice imitating sung or spoken sequences, and then to imitate a new sequence, which could differ with respect to domain (speaking or singing), global pitch contour (question vs. statement pattern), and/or words. Pitch accuracy during transfer was affected by changes to domain and contour, but not text. Somewhat surprisingly, best transfer was found either when both domain and contour remained the same or both changed. Transfer performance suffered when only one feature changed and the other remained consistent. Analyses of individual differences showed that poor-pitch imitators had a harder time adopting the pitch structure of new sequences, regardless of whether the sequence was speech or song. Results were not consistent with claims for either independence or complete integration of music and language, but instead argue for differences in domain possibly based on the salience of pitch structures in the signal.

This paper presents an assessment of vocal impairment for separating healthy persons from patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). We have recently shown that deterioration of speech performances in PD speakers is notable from an early stage of the disease, even before starting pharmacotherapy. In this study, we present the potential of the simple Bayes rule to reveal changes in degradable speech performance in the course of PD-related dysarthria. The various speech data were recorded from 23 speakers with recently diagnosed PD and 23 healthy speakers. It has been found that 19 various acoustic measurements are able to differentiate PD significantly from healthy speakers. Subsequently, the Bayes theorem was applied to each of these measurements. As a result, the 21 PD patients and 21 healthy people were correctly classified according to their group. The Bayes theorem thus confirms its feasibility for identifying the features of the impaired voice.

Gastroesophageal re ux (GER) is associated with a variety of laryngopharyngeal signs and symptoms. Injury of the laryngopharynx as a result of GER can be refractory to conventional antire ux therapy. This prospective study was undertaken to evaluate the prevalence of laryngopharyngeal signs and symptoms in patients with documented GER and to assess the response to a high-dose combination antire ux therapy consisting of cisapride and pantoprazole. Twenty-two patients with symptoms of GER were enrolled. After baseline evaluation using a history questionnaire for symptoms, laryngeal endoscopy and vocal acoustic analysis, patients were started on treatment consisting of pantoprazole 40 mg b.d. and cisapride 20 mg twice daily. Repeat history and otolaryngologic evaluation was performed at 4 weeks. Laryngopharyngeal symptoms were frequent in most patients, with throat clearing and globus being the most prevalent symptoms followed by vocal fatigue and excess mucus production. Almost 90% of the patients had abnormal endoscopic laryngeal ndings but the acoustic parameters did not show any abnormal results except for mild elevation in the shimmer. After treatment, all symptoms and endoscopic abnormalities improved signi cantly except for intermittent dysphonia and laryngeal mucosal redness. Acoustic abnormalities did not change signi cantly following therapy. Laryngeal symptoms and voice abnormalities are highly prevalent in patients with GER. Combination antire ux therapy with a proton pump inhibitor and a prokinetic agent results in rapid symptomatic and endoscopic response in the majority of patients.

It has been observed by several researchers that the Khoisan palate tends to lack a prominent alveolar ridge. A preliminary biomechanical model of click production was created to examine if these sounds might be subject to an anatomical bias associated with alveolar ridge size. Results suggest the bias is plausible, taking the form of decreased articulatory effort and improved volume change characteristics, however, further modelling and experimental research is required to solidify the claim.