title: Duration and variability of speech segments in fluent speech of children with and without stuttering.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to compare the duration and variability of speech segments of children who stutter with those of children who do not stutter and to identify changes in duration and variability of speech segments due to the effect of utterance length. Eighteen children participated (ranging from 6.3 to 7.9 years of age). The experimental task required the children to repeat a single word in isolation and the same word embedded in a sentence. Durations of speech segments and Coefficients of variation (Cv) were defined to assess temporal parameters of speech. Significant differences were found in the variability of speech segments on the sentence level, but not in duration. The findings supported the assumption that linguistic factors pose direct demands on the speech motor system and that the extra duration of speech segments observed in the speech of stuttering adults may be a kind of compensation strategy.
authors.affiliation: SUVAG Polyclinic, Department of Speech and Language Pathology, Zagreb, Croatia. kpavicic@suvag.hr
authors.forename: Katarina Pavicić
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Dokoza
authors.forename: Mladen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hedever
authors.forename: Jadranka Pavicić
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Sarić
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013342:Stuttering / Q000503:physiopathology*