The present study deals with the dimensions of normal and pathological phonation. Separation of normal voices from pathological voices is tested under different aspects. Using a new parametrization of voice-quality properties in the acoustic signal, the vowel productions of 534 speakers (267 M, 267 F) without any reported voice pathology and the…

Purpose: The objective was to identify acoustic correlates of laryngeal muscle fatigue in conditions of vocal effort. Method: In a previous study, a technique of electromyography (EMG) served to define physiological signs of "voice fatigue" in laryngeal muscles involved in voicing. These signs correspond to spectral changes in contraction…

Suprasegmental acoustic patterns in speech can convey meaningful information and affect listeners' interpretation in various ways, including through systematic analog mapping of message-relevant information onto prosody. We examined whether the effect of analog acoustic variation is governed by the acoustic properties themselves. For example, fast…

This study examined the perceptions held by sighted students and students with visual impairments of the intelligibility and comprehensibility of similar acoustic patterns produced by synthetic speech. It determined the types of errors the students made and compared the performance of the two groups on auditory discrimination and comprehension.

Teaching about light and sound is to teach about the processes of hearing and seeing. In considering the kinds of leading questions that we might ask in teaching, I suggest that a rethinking of how we consider the contribution of the energetic descriptions to this area will probably help to make these questions more fruitful. A subtly changed…

A novel method of localizing the direction of a source of sound has evolved in the auditory system of certain small parasitic flies. A mechanical model of this design has been shown to describe the system well. Here, a simplified version of this mechanical model is presented which demonstrates the key feature: direction estimates of high accuracy…

This article seeks to illuminate the degree of position-based variation observed in the acquisition of new segments in a second language and to explain such variability as the consequence of phonetic constraints; this approach contrasts with much previous research that has used typological markedness to the same end. Specifically, it is proposed…

Purpose: To compare the effects of speech presentation level on acceptance of noise in listeners with normal and impaired hearing. Method: Participants were listeners with normal (n = 24) and impaired (n = 46) hearing who were matched for conventional acceptable noise level (ANL). ANL was then measured at 8 fixed speech presentation levels (40,…

Communication underwater is challenging because of the inherent characteristics of the media. First, common radio frequency (RF) signals utilized in wireless communications cannot be used under water. RF signals are attenuated in such as way that RF communication underwater is restricted to very few meters. As a result, acoustic-based…

This dissertation presents a dialectological study of the city of Erie, Pennsylvania, and the neighboring towns in the boundary area between the North and Midland dialect regions. Erie occupies a unique place in the dialect geography of North America, in that it appears to have switched status from the North to the Midland. Since the dialect…

Purpose: To explore the use of noninvasive functional imaging and "virtual" lesion techniques to study the neural mechanisms underlying motor speech disorders in Parkinson's disease. Here, we report the use of positron emission tomography (PET) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to explain exacerbated speech impairment following…

The focus of the study reported in this article is the behavioural response of pupils with Asperger syndrome to light and sound intensity and the development of ways to help them to cope with such sensory stimuli. A number of practical ways of minimising the negative effects of various sensory stimuli are noted: (1) the establishment of "a place…

Previous research has demonstrated that infants under 17 months have difficulty learning novel words in the laboratory when the words differ by only one consonant sound, irrespective of the magnitude of that difference. The current study explored whether 15-month-old infants can learn novel words that differ in only one vowel sound. The rich…

This paper presents findings of an acoustic phonetic analysis of vowels produced by speakers of English as a second language from northern India. The monophthongal vowel productions of a group of male speakers of Hindi and male speakers of Punjabi were recorded, and acoustic phonetic analyses of vowel formant frequencies and vowel duration were…

This report describes three extensions to a classification system for paediatric speech sound disorders termed the Speech Disorders Classification System (SDCS). Part I describes a classification extension to the SDCS to differentiate motor speech disorders from speech delay and to differentiate among three sub-types of motor speech disorders.…