title: Spectral features and perceptual judgment of place of affricate in Putonghua-speaking pre-adolescents with normal and cleft palate.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between the spectral features and perceptual judgments of places of affricate in Putonghua (standard Mandarin Chinese), and to explore the possible contribution of different spectral moments on correct perception of place of articulation information by typical pre-adolescent speakers and those with cleft palate.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 139 affricates produced by 10 normal pre-adolescent speakers and 14 speakers with repaired cleft palate (distorted articulation) were presented to 12 listeners tasked with making a judgment of the accuracy of place of articulation using a visual analog scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Statistical analysis showed a significant relationship between the third spectral moment (L3) and listeners' perceptual judgment of typical alveolar and retroflex affricates. For productions by pre-adolescents with cleft palate, the first spectral moment (M1) was significantly correlated with listener perceptual scaling of retroflex affricates, but not for the alveolar affricates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Spectral features were associated with the perception of place of affricate in Putonghua. Different spectral moment characteristics might be used by listeners when perceiving speech from individuals with cleft palate.
authors.affiliation: Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Electronic address: jiangchenghui_26@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Chenghui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Tara L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Whitehill
authors.affiliation: Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Bradley
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: McPherson
authors.affiliation: Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Manwa Lawrence
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Ng
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D044466:Asian People; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology; D013068:Speech Production Measurement
keywords: Affricate; Chinese; Cleft palate; Mandarin; Place of articulation; Speech disorder