Title

Preliminary investigation of voice onset time production in persons with dysphagia

Authors

Authors

J. Ryalls; K. Gustafson;C. Santini

Comments

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Abbreviated Journal Title

Dysphagia

Keywords

dysphagia; voice onset time; acoustic analysis; speech; deglutition; deglutition disorders; COMMUNICATION DISORDERS; Otorhinolaryngology

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether voice onset time (VOT) values of persons with dysphagia differed from those of a person with normal swallow function. Five male subjects with dysphagia (average age = 80.6 years) and a control subject (age = 79 years) read 18 consonant-vowel-consonant words in quasi-random order. These syllables began with the voiced and voiceless cognates from the three stop places of articulation (i.e., bilabial, alveolar, and velar). These consonants were followed by the vowels /i/, /a/, and /u/. Digital audio tape recordings were performed and speech was digitized onto disk. Measurements were completed using BLISS software (Mertus J: BLISS User's Manual. Providence: Department of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences, Brown University, 1989) implemented on a 486 microcomputer. Averages and standard deviations of the VOT measures for the six stop consonants were compared between the two experimental groups. For the dysphagic speakers, average VOT values for voiceless stops were shorter, and there were larger negative VOT values for voiced stops. Standard deviations for the VOT productions pf the dysphagic subjects were smaller. Statistical comparisons showed significant differences between individual dysphagic speakers and the normal control for three of the five subjects. These preliminary data suggest that dysphagia affects the fine motor control required for accurate VOT production in speech.

Journal Title

Dysphagia

Volume

14

Issue/Number

3

Publication Date

1-1-1999

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

169

Last Page

175

WOS Identifier

WOS:000080503200009

ISSN

0179-051X

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