title: Speech rate reduction and "nasality" in normal speakers.
abstract: This study explored the effects of reduced speech rate on nasal/voice accelerometric measures and nasality ratings. Nasal/voice accelerometric measures were obtained from normal adults for various speech stimuli and speaking rates. Stimuli included three sentences (one obstruent-loaded, one semivowel-loaded, and one containing a single nasal), and /pv/ syllable trains.. Speakers read the stimuli at their normal rate, half their normal rate, and as slowly as possible. In addition, a computer program paced each speaker at rates of 1, 2, and 3 syllables per second. The nasal/voice accelerometric values revealed significant stimulus effects but no rate effects. The nasality ratings of experienced listeners, evaluated as a function of stimulus and speaking rate, were compared to the accelerometric measures. The nasality scale values demonstrated small, but statistically significant, stimulus and rate effects. However, the nasality percepts were poorly correlated with the nasal/voice accelerometric measures.
authors.affiliation: University of Washington.
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Brancewicz
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Reich
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009666:Nose; D015588:Observer Variation; D010699:Phonation; D013060:Speech; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013067:Speech Perception; D014732:Vibration; D014831:Voice