Effects of nasal port area on perception of nasality and measures of nasalance based on computational modeling.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined the relation between nasal port area, nasalance, and perceptual ratings of nasality for three English corner vowels, /i/, /u/, and /a/.


METHODS
Samples were simulated using a computational model that allowed for exact control of nasal port size and direct measures of nasalance. Perceptual ratings were obtained using a paired stimulus presentation.


METHODS
Four experienced listeners.


METHODS
Nasalance and perceptual ratings of nasality.


RESULTS
Findings show that perceptual ratings of nasality and nasalance increased for samples generated with nasal port areas up to and including 0.16 cm(2) but plateaued in samples generated with larger nasal port areas. No vowel differences were noted for perceptual ratings.


CONCLUSIONS
This work extends previously published work by including nasal port areas representative of those reported in the literature for clinical populations. Continued work using samples with varied phonetic context and varying suprasegmental and temporal characteristics are needed.
Kate
K
Bunton
D001307:Auditory Perception; D006801:Humans; D009666:Nose / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D014681:Velopharyngeal Insufficiency / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014833:Voice Quality
nasal port area; nasalance; nasality; velopharyngeal function