The effect of nasalization on /a/ vowel formants before and after nasal consonant in 4-9-year old normal Persian speaking children

Background and Aim : Nasalization of a vowel refers to the addition of nasal resonance to the vocal tract transfer function. Also, vowel nasalization occurs because of coarticulation. Coupling of the nasal resonating space to the oropharyngeal cavity alters the vocal tract formants in complex ways. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of nasalization on /a/ vowel formants in before and after nasal consonant.Methods: In current cross-sectional study, voice samples of 60 normal children ranging the age of four-nine years were investigated. Participants were asked to repeat / ʔ ama/ three times and vowel /a/ after presentation of an auditory model. Then, obtained samples were analyzed using Praat 5.3.13 . Average of F0, F1, F2 and F3 were calculated for /a/ comes before and after /m/ in production of / ʔ ama/ over three trials.Results: There were statistically significant differences of F1, F2 and F3 between / a/ which proceeds nasal consonant and /a/ follows nasal consonant , the before nasal consonant /a/ versus single /a/ and the after nasal consonant /a/ versus single /a/ (p=0.001 for all).Conclusion : F1, F2 and F3 in /a/ before nasal consonant affected by anticipatory nasal coarticulation and in /a/ after nasal consonant affected by carry-over nasal coarticulation . This study showed nasal coarticulation and nasalization result in decreasing F1, F2 and F3 in /a/ vowel

A comparison of Speech Duration in Cochlear Implant and Normal Hearing Elementary School Students in the Imitation and Reading Tasks

Abstract Farsi Background and Objectives: Excessive duration is one of the suprasegmental features in cochlear implant children. Regarding the importance of the normal rate of speech in transferring the intonation and clarity of speech, the present study aims at comparing word and sentence duration in cochlear implant and normal hearing children in imitation and reading tasks. Methods: The present descriptive-analytical study was performed on 30 elementary school cochlear implant children versus 30 normal hearing children. Voice recording was done in a silent room. The Persian-speaking subject was asked to utter “/sælam/ (hello)” and “/Ɂemruz nemiyad/ (He won’t come today)” with the following moods and emotions: statement, question, exclamation, with happiness and with sadness. Then, they were asked to do the same task imitating the voice which had been recorded earlier. Data recording was done using Praat software and data analysis was done by SPSS software. Results: The average duration in cochlear implant children in two modes of imitating and reading a word showed a significant difference with that of children with normal hearing (P < 0.001). Moreover, in both groups, the average duration of reading the word was less in comparison with imitating the word. Also, the average duration in cochlear implant children in two modes of imitating and reading a sentence showed a significant difference with that of children with normal hearing (P< 0.001). In the cochlear implant group, the average duration of imitating the sentence was less than the average duration of reading the sentence, whereas in the normal hearing group, the average duration of reading the sentence was less than the average duration of imitating the sentence. Conclusion: The average duration in cochlear implant in all modes (word imitation, word reading, sentence imitation, sentence reading) was more than normal hearing children, which results in abnormal intonation in these children. According to the present study, imitation cannot cause a decrease in duration and consequently, does not result in more natural intonation. Hence, it is probably not a proper therapeutic method

Intonation and Duration Curve in Persian Interrogative Sentences

Background and Aim: prosody is a very important factor in communication and includes such parameters as: duration, intonation, pitch, stress, rhythm etc. Intonation is the pitch variation in one sentence. Duration is the time taken to utter a voice. The aim of the present study was to evaluate some parameters of prosody such as duration and intonation curve in interrogative sentences among normal Farsi speaking adults in order to determine the characteristics of this aspect of language with an emphasis on laboratory testing.Methods: This study was performed as a cross-sectional one. The participants included 134 male and female Farsi speaking individuals aging between 18-30 years. In this study two interrogative sentences with open and closed answers were used. The voice samples were analyzed by Dr.speech -real analysis software. Data analysis incorporated unilateral analysis of variance and an intonation curve was drawn for each sentence.Results: The parameter of duration among men and women was significantly different (p≤0.001). Duration in open questions was significantly longer than yes/no questions (p≤0.001). The intonation curve of the two groups were similar.Conclusion: Men and women use duration changes, for making difference in prosody. On the whole, duration among women is longer than men. In open questions, the duration of sentences is mostly due to the question word. The intonation curve in open questions has more amplitude. Women show much more changes in basic frequency for transferring interrogative state in their expressions

Effect of Voicing on Spacial Indices of Consonants

Background and Aim: For better using of electropalatography in assessment and treatment procedures it is important to know normal tongue to palate contact patterns. Several factors can change consonant’s articulatory patterns. One of them is voicing. In addition to determine amount of spacial indices of studied consonants, this research aimed to study tongue behavior related to change in voicing. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive analytic study. Consonant linguapalatal contacts were studied using reading electropalatography by recording 4 normal Persian speaking adults (aged between 21-25) repeating CVCV syllables (C=/s,z,t,d/, V=/a/) ten times. Contact patterns were examined for total number of electrodes contacted and other spatial indices. Comparisons were made across voicing contrast.Results: In this study amount of spacial indices of studied consonants determined. It’s found that there was not significant difference between voiced and voiceless cognate according to number of contact and other special indices.Conclusion: The findings of this study are in according with previous studies in other languages about the effect of voicing upon linguapalatal contact patterns. Difference in voicing does not make clear change in spacial indices related to tongue contact pattern. Compared to other parts, Tip of the tongue seem to be more sensitive for change in voicing and oral air pressure

تاثیر برنامه درمان نوای گفتار بر وضوح گفتار بیماران مبتلا به پارکینسون

مقدمه: پارکینسون یک بیماری نرولوژیک پیشرونده است، که برروی حرکات غیر گفتاری و جنبه های مختلفی از تولید گفتار اثر گذاشته و باعث بروز نقص در تنفس، آوا سازی، تولید و نوای گفتار شده و  در مجموع منجر به کاهش وضوح  گفتار و در نتیجه مختل شدن ارتباط می گردد. هدف اصلی این پژوهش بررسی اثر برنامه درمان نوای گفتار بر وضوح گفتار سه بیمار مبتلا به پارکینسون است. مواد و روش ها: در مرحله اول تکالیف برنامه درمانی متناسب با زبان فارسی و با حفظ اولویت درمانی برای بیماران مبتلا به پارکینسون طراحی و در اختیار ده آسیب شناس گفتار و زبان خبره جهت تعیین روایی محتوایی  قرار داده شد. پس  از تدوین نهایی برنامه اثر آن بر وضوح گفتار سه بیمار مبتلا به پارکینسون مورد بررسی قرار گرفت. یافته ها: برنامه درمانی طراحی شده  با CVR ≥0/62   و CVI =0/94  مورد تایید آسیب شناسان گفتار و زبان قرار گرفت. سپس نتایج حاصل از اجرای آن با استفاده از ترسیم نمودار، تحلیل چشمی ، محاسبه اندازه اثر دی کوهن و درصد بهبودی مورد بررسی قرار گرفت. اندازه اثر در هر سه بیمار بیشتر از 8/0 بود و همه بیماران درصدی بهبودی بالینی به دنبال دریافت برنامه درمان  نیز نشان دادند. نتیجه گیری: طبق نتایج بدست آمده، برنامه درمانی طراحی شده منجر به افزایش وضوح گفتار هر سه بیمار شده و نتایج درمانی آن به مدت سه  الی چهار هفته نسبتا پایدار بوده است. کلمات کلیدی: پارکینسون، نوای گفتار، گفتار درمانی، وضوح گفتا

The Effect of Vocal Loudness on Nasalance of Vowels in Persian Adults

Objectives: Nasality is one of the important parameters in pathology of voice resonance. Voice of normal adults has nasality to some extent. It appears that nasality, like other parameters of voice, can be affected by loudness which can be measured in experimental evaluations. This study was conducted to determine the effect of vocal loudness on nasalance of vowels in normal adults and to identify the relationship between these two factors in 18-28 year-old normal Persian-speaking adults. Methods: In this descriptive-analytic and cross sectional study, sample voices of sixty-five randomly selected male and female 18 to 28 year-old normal Persian-speaking students of Rehabilitation Faculty in Tehran University of Medical sciences were studied. Mean of Nasalance in Persian vowels was computed with Nasal View software. The findings were analyzed with descriptive statistical analysis and one-way ANOVA. Results: Maximum nasalance was in low voice and minimum nasalance was in loud voice in both men and women subjects. The statistical results show that nasalance in 3 levels of low, normal and loud voices have significant differences (P<0.05). Discussion: In normal adults, vowel nasalance is decreased with increase in vocal loudness. This is an aspect of normal speech mechanism. The findings can be explained considering function of velopharengeal port, raise in subglottal air pressure in loud voice, and increased muscle contraction of pharynx and palate

The Relationship Between Acoustic Characteristics and Personality Dimensions in Patients With Dysphonia

Objectives: Voice is influenced by personality. However, it is still questionable which acoustic features are influenced by personality traits. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between acoustic characteristics and personality dimensions. Methods: Thirty-three participants with dysphonia and 33 participants without dysphonia were recruited to take part in this cross-sectional study. Personality dimensions were evaluated by the revised NEO personality inventory, and acoustic characteristics by using the Praat software. The tasks included prolongation of the vowel /a/, expression of declarative and interrogative sentences, reading, and connected speech. The acoustic features included fundamental frequency range, jitter, shimmer, harmonic-to-noise ratio, intensity, and duration. SPSS V. 23 was used for statistical analysis. For correlation analysis, the Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were employed. Results: In individuals with dysphonia, a significant relationship was observed between personality dimensions and the following acoustic features: A. extraversion and intensity in connected speech (P=0.045) and the reading task (P=0.036); B. openness and shimmer in /a/ vowel prolongation (P=0.003); C. openness and the harmonic-to-noise ratio in /a/ the vowel prolongation task (P=0.017); and D. agreeableness and duration in expressing interrogative sentences (P=0.019). Discussion: In Persian-speaking participants with and without dysphonia, some acoustic characteristics were significantly correlated with the mean score of the personality test (revised NEO personality inventory). It seems that each voice feature is influenced by personality dimensions. This finding indicates that changes in acoustic characteristics of voice due to personality can be evaluated in laboratory and hearing examinations

A Systematic Review on Machine Learning Techniques for Early Detection of Mental, Neurological and Laryngeal Disorders Using Patient&rsquo;s Speech

There is a substantial unmet need to diagnose speech-related disorders effectively. Machine learning (ML), as an area of artificial intelligence (AI), enables researchers, physicians, and patients to solve these issues. The purpose of this study was to categorize and compare machine learning methods in the diagnosis of speech-based diseases. In this systematic review, a comprehensive search for publications was conducted on the Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, IEEE and Cochrane databases from 2002&ndash;2022. From 533 search results, 48 articles were selected based on the eligibility criteria. Our findings suggest that the diagnosing of speech-based diseases using speech signals depends on culture, language and content of speech, gender, age, accent and many other factors. The use of machine-learning models on speech sounds is a promising pathway towards improving speech-based disease diagnosis and treatments in line with preventive and personalized medicine

A Systematic Review on Machine Learning Techniques for Early Detection of Mental, Neurological and Laryngeal Disorders Using Patient’s Speech

There is a substantial unmet need to diagnose speech-related disorders effectively. Machine learning (ML), as an area of artificial intelligence (AI), enables researchers, physicians, and patients to solve these issues. The purpose of this study was to categorize and compare machine learning methods in the diagnosis of speech-based diseases. In this systematic review, a comprehensive search for publications was conducted on the Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, IEEE and Cochrane databases from 2002–2022. From 533 search results, 48 articles were selected based on the eligibility criteria. Our findings suggest that the diagnosing of speech-based diseases using speech signals depends on culture, language and content of speech, gender, age, accent and many other factors. The use of machine-learning models on speech sounds is a promising pathway towards improving speech-based disease diagnosis and treatments in line with preventive and personalized medicine

The Persian Vowel Formants in Normal, Moderate and Severe Hearing Impaired Students Age 7-9 Years in Isfahan

Background and Aim: Nowadays, auditory perception is not a complete method to assess vowels quality and we need to use more objective instruments.In this study we want to determine and compare the persian vowels formants in normal and hearing Impaired students in 7ـ9 year old children of Isfahan.Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was performed on 64 normal and hearing impaired students. Background information was by interview and then, vowel production test was performed. First three formants of each vowel were obtained and recorded by speech studio soft ware and Dr. Speech device Data were compared between groups. Results: Mean F1 and F2, and F2/F1 and F3/F1 ratio of Persian vowels between these three studied groups were different significantly. Mean F3 of /o/, /e/ and /a/ in all groups was different significantly. Although we could not find such a significant differences for /u/, /i/ and /æ/ between these groups(p<0.05).Conclusion: The most important difference between normal and hearing impaired children is their vowel Space, and we found that, the more sever the hearing impairment is, the closer vowel space will be seen. The hearing impaired children rely mostly on their proprioceptive sense because of their hearing deficiency and it causes less movement of the tongue, so they usually substitute vowels which have similar F1 and F2