Prediction of modeled velopharyngeal orifice areas during steady flow conditions and during aerodynamic simulation of voiceless stop consonants.
Results of a small number of studies (Warren and DuBois, 1964; Lubker, 1969; Smith and Weinberg, 1980; Horii and Lang, 1981) have led to expression of divergent views concerning the accuracy of modeled velopharyngeal orifice area estimates obtained on the basis of hydrokinetic principles. In this work, the hydrokinetic equation (Warren and DuBois, 1964) was subjected to experimentation: (1) in which flow rates through a vocal tract model were not varied and (2) in which flow rates were varied to simulate pressure/flow events found during voiceless, stop consonant production. With consideration given to instrumental and procedural factors, results indicated that accurate estimates of modeled velopharyngeal orifice areas can be obtained during steady flow conditions and during alternating flow conditions when measurements are made at airflow peaks. Results were interpreted to provide strong support for clinical and research use of the hydrokinetic equation to predict velopharyngeal orifice areas during stop consonant production.
D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D010160:Palate, Soft / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D010614:Pharynx / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D012119:Respiration; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic