title: Tongue-palate contact pressure, oral air pressure, and acoustics of clear speech.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The authors compared articulatory contact pressure (ACP), oral air pressure (Po), and speech acoustics for conversational versus clear speech. They also assessed the relationship of these measures to listener perception.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve adults with normal speech produced monosyllables in a phrase using conversational and clear speech. Target phonemes were /t, d, s, z, l, n/. ACP was measured at a point of articulatory contact; Po was sensed by a catheter open in the posterior oral cavity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ACP was increased to a greater extent in clear speech for /t, d, z/. Po was increased to a greater extent for /t, d/. Acoustic changes also occurred in terms of segment durations, speaking rate, and CV dB ratio. Regression analysis indicated that segment duration was the strongest predictor of listener ratings of speech clarity, followed by an index of articulatory effort and speaking rate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Articulatory effort, as indexed by ACP, Po, and CV dB ratio, was increased to varying degrees depending on the consonant. Greatest changes occurred for /t, d/. Durational measures at both the segment and the phrase level were also important for predicting listener ratings of speech clarity.
authors.affiliation: Hearing and Speech Department, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, USA. jsearl@kumc.edu
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Searl
authors.forename: Paul M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Evitts
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000399:Air Pressure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009055:Mouth / Q000502:physiology; D010159:Palate / Q000502:physiology*; D011312:Pressure; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology*; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D014059:Tongue / Q000502:physiology*