scholarly journals Acoustic characteristics of voice and speech in Arabic-speaking stuttering children

2022 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marwa Elsherbeny ◽  
Hemmat Baz ◽  
Omayma Afsah
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Acoustic Parameters ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Acoustic Characteristics ◽  
Egyptian Children ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Arabic Speaking ◽  
Voice And Speech

Abstract Background Using different methodologies, several researchers have reported certain acoustical and physiological differences between fluent utterances of stutterers and normally fluent speakers. The aim of this study was to determine acoustic characteristics of voice and speech in Arabic-speaking stuttering children in comparison to normal children and correlate these characteristics with stuttering severity. A sample of 80 Arabic-speaking Egyptian children (including 40 typically developing children and 40 stuttering children) in the age range 5–8 years were subjected to acoustic analysis of voice and speech using the Praat software. Results The stuttering children showed significantly higher values of jitter and shimmer in prolonged /a/ vowel sample, as compared to the normal group. This may reflect the subtle differences in laryngeal functioning or in the complex interaction among the laryngeal, respiratory, and the vocal tract systems in stuttering children. Both jitter and shimmer of prolonged /a/ vowel demonstrated significant positive moderate correlation with stuttering severity as assessed by SSI3. F0 was significantly higher in females than in males, both in normal and stuttering children. Conclusions The present study revealed significant differences in the acoustic parameters of voice and speech between Arabic-speaking stuttering children and normal children. Some of these acoustic parameters were significantly correlated with stuttering severity. Acoustic analysis can be used as simple, quick, and cheap tool for assessment of stuttering in children and might be a valuable addition to the diagnostic set for assessment of stuttering severity.

scholarly journals Acoustic analysis of voice in post-tonsillectomy patients

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 382-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Kai Lea ◽  
Nik Fariza Husna Nik Hassan ◽  
Irfan Mohamad
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Medical Science ◽  
Acoustic Parameters ◽  
Formant Frequency ◽  
Care Givers ◽  
Voice Changes ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Age Range

Introduction: Tonsillectomy is a common surgical procedure performed in otolaryngology setting worldwide. It is a procedure to remove the palatine tonsils, which are one of the major structures in the oropharynx which constitute part of the vocal tract. The study aimed to determine acoustic changes in post-tonsillectomy patients.Methodology: Voice sampling was collected using Praat software before and after operation, which was one day before operation and within 2-3 weeks after the operation respectively. Acoustic parameters including fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, harmonic to noise ratio and first formant frequency were analyzed by using paired t-test.Results: A total of 27 participants that underwent tonsillectomy or adenotonsillectomy were involved in this study. The age range of participants was 3-56 years old. The mean age of study was 18.57. There was no significant difference for all the acoustic parameters between pretonsillectomy and post tonsillectomy. However, there were noticeable voice changes through auditory as perceived by participants or caregiver.Conclusion: Although patient and care givers do notice a significant voice changes, but objectively this finding is not reveals during objective voice assessment.Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.17(3) 2018 p.382-387

Acoustic Analysis of Breathy and Rough Voice Characterizing Elderly Speech

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeshi Miyazaki ◽  
◽  
Mitsunori Mizumachi ◽  
Katsuyuki Niyada
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Average Power ◽  
Power Spectra ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Acoustic Features ◽  
Acoustic Characteristics ◽  
Listening Tests ◽  
Amplitude Spectra ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Age Range

This paper aims at investigating acoustic features, which can objectively explain breathiness and roughness of elderly speech, respectively. In this paper, acoustic analysis was carried out using word sequences, which were uttered by 153 male speakers in the age range of between 20 and 89 years old. Concerning the breathiness, we confirmed that elderly breathy voices caused energy lift in higher frequency region over 4 kHz in average power spectra during the stationary parts in the uttered vowels. Concerning roughness, we observed the slight fluctuations, which synchronized with vocal cord vibration, in amplitude spectra during stationary parts of vowels. Based on acoustic analysis results, we propose physical parameters for measuring breathiness and roughness, respectively. In this paper, listening tests were carried out to quantitatively give the subject degrees of breathiness and roughness, respectively. It was confirmed that the proposed physical parameters had correlation with each of subjective degrees. Relationships between age and acoustic characteristics of breathiness and roughness were investigated using the proposed parameters. It is confirmed that the degree of breathiness and roughness increased in proportion to age, especially in age ranges over 60 years old.

scholarly journals Validity and reliability of the revised Arabic language test for 2–4-year-old children: cross-sectional study

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nahla Rifaie ◽  
Tarek Mohamed Abdel Wahab Hamza ◽  
Yomna Hassan Elfiky
Keyword(s):  
Arabic Language ◽  
Face Validity ◽  
Language Test ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Standardization Sample ◽  
Group Validity ◽  
Egyptian Children ◽  
Age Range

Abstract Background Language assessment in children using subjective and objective tests has been an issue to discuss. The aim of this study is to revise and prove the validity and reliability of the Arabic language test (ALT) for the age range from 2 to 4 years old. New design of the test format and test pictures was performed and tested on a pilot study of 30 normal children with no language problems, 15 in each 1 year age group, within the same age range of the standardization sample. The standardization sample on which the test was then applied was 400 normal Egyptian children in the age range from 2 to 4 years old 200 at 2–3 years old and 200 at 3–4 years old. Retesting was done on 30 children (15 in each group) to prove test-retest reliability, with an interval of 2 weeks. Validity of the test was done using, internal consistency validity, contrasted group validity, factorial validity, face validity, and judgment validity. In the contrasted group validity, a sample of 40 children with delayed language was used. Results All validity tests used gave significant scores that proved the high validity of the newly revised test. Also, reliability tests were highly significant. Conclusion The newly revised Arabic language test for 2–4 years old is a reliable and valid test to be used to evaluate language development and to detect language deficits among Egyptian children in the same age range.

Voice Markers of Lexical Access in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan J.G. Meilan ◽  
Francisco Martinez-Sanchez ◽  
Juan Carro ◽  
Nuria Carcavilla ◽  
Olga Ivanova
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Lexical Access ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Acoustic Parameters ◽  
Voice And Speech

Background: Recent studies have identified the correlation between dementia and certain vocal features, such as voice and speech changes. Vocal features may act as early markers of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Despite being present in non-pathological senescence and Mild Cognitive Impairment, especially in its amnesic subtype (aMCI), these voice- and speech-related symptoms are the first signs of AD. The purpose of this study is to verify whether these signs are related to deficits in lexical access, which appear early in AD. Method: Anomic deficits in persons with MCI and AD are assessed through tests on verbal memory, denomination by confrontation, and verbal fluency. In addition, an acoustic analysis of speech is conducted in a reading task to identify the acoustic parameters associated with the groups analyzed, and their relation to the degree of anomic impairment observed in each one of them. Results and Conclusions: The results show a direct relationship between the different acoustic parameters present in AD and the verbal fluency tests results.

scholarly journals Descriptive analysis of the development of the Arabic speech sounds among typically developing colloquial Egyptian Arabic-speaking children

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dina Ahmed Elrefaie ◽  
Mona Abd El-Fattah Hegazi ◽  
Marwa Mohammed El-Mahallawi ◽  
Mona Sameeh Khodeir
Keyword(s):  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Phonological Processes ◽  
Phonological Disorders ◽  
Egyptian Arabic ◽  
Target Phoneme ◽  
Egyptian Children ◽  
Arabic Speaking ◽  
Naming Test

Abstract Background Literature only mentioned a few kinds of research that did study the development of the speech sounds of the Colloquial Egyptian Arabic dialect. Moreover, these studies focused on describing the phonological processes that children undergo in early childhood rather than describing the exact time of acquisition of these sounds. Besides, no study involved a statistically enough sample size of children across the different age ranges. Thus, this study aimed to explore the development of the Arabic phonemes among 360 typically developing Egyptian children who speak the CEA dialect, between the ages of 1.6 years and ≤ 7.4 years. Results The results of a 93-picture-naming test of children were analyzed. A phoneme is considered acquired when 90% of the children could properly utter the target phoneme in all word positions and mastered when 100% of children could correctly pronounce the target phoneme in all word positions. The results revealed that by the age of 1.6–2.0 years, the 6 long vowels of the CEA dialect, besides the /h/,/ʔ/, /b/, /w/, /j/, /m/, and /n/ were mastered. /t/ and /d/ sounds were mastered by the age of 2.6 years followed by /l/ sound by the age of 3.0 years. Then, /ħ/, /ʕ/ sounds were mastered followed by /k/, and /g/ at the age of 3.0 and 3.6 years, respectively. At the age of 5.0 years, /f/ sound was mastered, then /x / and /ʃ/ sounds were mastered by the age of 4.6 years, followed by /s/, /sˁ/, /tˁ/, /dˁ/. By the age of 5.6 and 6.0 years, /ɣ/, /r/, and /z/ were mastered. The /q/, /θ/, /ð/, and /ðˁ/ sounds were mastered by the age of 6.0–6.6 years. This study revealed that fricative sounds developed before the stop sounds and front stops before the back stops, and emphatic Arabic sounds were the last to develop at the school age (> 5 years). Conclusions This study presented a chart of the development of the Arabic phonemes of the CEA to be used as a guide to decide upon the correct trimming to start articulatory therapy for children with articulation and/or phonological disorders.

Nonword Repetition Skills in Gulf Arabic–Speaking Children With Developmental Language Disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 3700-3713
Author(s):  
Saleh Shaalan
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Gulf Arabic ◽  
Arabic Speaking ◽  
Phonological Complexity

Purpose This study examined the performance of Gulf Arabic–speaking children with developmental language disorder (DLD) on a Gulf Arabic nonword repetition (GA-NWR) test and compared it to their age- and language-matched groups. We also investigated the role of syllable length, wordlikeness, and phonological complexity in light of NWR theories. Method A new GA-NWR test was conducted with three groups of Gulf Arabic–speaking children: school-age children with DLD, language-matched controls (LCs), and age-matched controls (ACs). The test consisted of two- and three-syllable words that either had no clusters, medial clusters, final clusters, or medial + final clusters. Results The GA-NWR distinguished between the performance of children with DLD and the LC and AC groups. Results showed significant syllable length, wordlikeness, and phonological complexity effects. Differences between the DLD and typically developing groups were seen in two- and three-syllable nonwords; however, when compared on nonwords with no clusters, children with DLD were not significantly different from the LC group. Conclusions The GA-NWR test differentiated between children with DLD and their ACs and LCs. Findings, therefore, support its clinical utility in this variety of Arabic. Results showed that phonological processing factors, such as phonological complexity, may have stronger effects when compared to syllable length effects. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12996812

Effects of a 6-Week Straw Phonation in Water Exercise Program on the Aging Voice

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 1018-1032
Author(s):  
Chia-Hsin Wu ◽  
Roger W. Chan
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Exercise Program ◽  
Analysis Of Covariance ◽  
Elderly Subjects ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Perceptual Evaluation ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Aging Voice ◽  
Before And After

Purpose Semi-occluded vocal tract (SOVT) exercises with tubes or straws have been widely used for a variety of voice disorders. Yet, the effects of longer periods of SOVT exercises (lasting for weeks) on the aging voice are not well understood. This study investigated the effects of a 6-week straw phonation in water (SPW) exercise program. Method Thirty-seven elderly subjects with self-perceived voice problems were assigned into two groups: (a) SPW exercises with six weekly sessions and home practice (experimental group) and (b) vocal hygiene education (control group). Before and after intervention (2 weeks after the completion of the exercise program), acoustic analysis, auditory–perceptual evaluation, and self-assessment of vocal impairment were conducted. Results Analysis of covariance revealed significant differences between the two groups in smoothed cepstral peak prominence measures, harmonics-to-noise ratio, the auditory–perceptual parameter of breathiness, and Voice Handicap Index-10 scores postintervention. No significant differences between the two groups were found for other measures. Conclusions Our results supported the positive effects of SOVT exercises for the aging voice, with a 6-week SPW exercise program being a clinical option. Future studies should involve long-term follow-up and additional outcome measures to better understand the efficacy of SOVT exercises, particularly SPW exercises, for the aging voice.

scholarly journals In situ acoustic analysis of two twentieth-century heritage carillons

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Allan Orr
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Mechanical Action ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Physical Acoustics ◽  
Acoustic Characteristics ◽  
Dynamic Level ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
And Function

AbstractCarillons are a diverse and global form of musical and civic heritage: musical instruments comprised of a series of 23 or more bells, typically hung in a tower-like structure, tuned chromatically and played from a touch-sensitive manual and pedal console using an elaborate mechanical action. Carillon bells have a distinct series of musical overtones which should be accurately tuned to one another and with other bells they sound alongside. Although these overtones have been previously studied ex situ, this study assesses the acoustic characteristics of two early-twentieth century carillons in Toronto, Canada as a combination of structure, bells, and mechanical action. Thus, the instrument and its context are considered holistically, more accurately reflecting the musical sensitivity of a carillonist. Spectral analysis of audio samples of each bell at different musical dynamic levels enabled the analysis of the acoustic qualities of the bells and the mechanical action of the instruments. The tuning of bells in the instruments varied; most importantly, there was a significant difference between the audial intensity of the bell tones produced by the instruments, demonstrating the importance of the mechanical action as part of the ‘carillon system’. This was represented with a resistive power-law model, that represents the sensitivity of intensity to carillonist musical dynamic level. A discussion of the implications for artistic and heritage practice follows. Understanding the in situ physical acoustics of the carillon as a holistic instrument in its context informs performers, arrangers, and composers of how they can best embrace the instrument’s unique qualities to improve artistic pursuits and support the appreciation of carillons as heritage instruments and function as civic voices.

scholarly journals Development of a test for assessment of the lipreading ability for children in the Arabic-speaking countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Abdel-Fattah Hegazi ◽  
Aya Mohammed Saad ◽  
Mona Sameeh Khodeir
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Sensory Modality ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Egyptian Children ◽  
Hearing Children ◽  
Arabic Speaking

Abstract Background Lipreading is considered an important skill that varies considerably among normal-hearing (NH) and hearing-impaired (HI) children. It is well known that normal-hearing children use audition as the primary sensory modality for speech perception, whereas HI children use lipreading cues as the primary sensory modality for speech perception. Moreover, speech perception is a multisensory process that involves attention to auditory signals as well as visual articulatory movements, and the integration of auditory and visual signals occurs naturally and automatically in normal individuals of all ages. Most researches proved that lipreading is a natural and important skill needed for language acquisition in HI children. Lipreading also helps HI children to perceive speech, acquire spoken language, and acquire phonology. In the Arabic language, tools are deficient for assessing the lipreading ability for HI children, so this study was conducted to develop a test suitable for assessing the lipreading ability of hearing-impaired children among Arabic-speaking countries. The constructed lipreading test was administered to 160 Arabic-speaking Egyptian children including 100 typically developing NH children and 60 HI children. Participants’ responses were statistically analyzed to assess the validity and reliability and to compare the lipreading ability between the NH and HI children. Ranks of percentiles were established to provide an estimate of the lipreading ability in children. Results Statistically significant differences were found between the normal-hearing and HI children as regards all subtotal and total scores of the Arabic lipreading test, with good validity and reliability of the test. Conclusions The Arabic lipreading test is a valid and reliable test that can be applied to assess the lipreading ability among Arabic-speaking children with HI.

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