The syllable method: proportion of impaired syllables as an indicator of spasmodic dysphonia severity.

We have previously proposed the 'mora method' to evaluate the degree of impairment in spasmodic dysphonia (SD) in Japanese-speaking patients. With this method, impairment is judged as the proportion of impaired morae in a 25-mora sentence in a longer passage read aloud. As the mora is the phonologically isochronic unit in Japanese, the proportion of impaired morae in speech can be used to represent the temporal proportion of impaired Japanese speech.

Anticipatory velar lowering: a coproduction account.

Feature spreading and coproduction models make fundamentally different assumptions about the nature and organization of speech motor control, and yet each model is supported by some, but not all, of the existing empirical data. This has led some researchers to conclude that speakers probably use alternative strategies at different times. This study suggests that the identification of coarticulatory influences requires the concurrent identification of intrinsic articulatory characteristics of the segment.

Determining the extent of coarticulation: effects of experimental design.

The purpose of this letter is to explore some reasons for what appear to be conflicting reports regarding the nature and extent of anticipatory coarticulation, in general, and anticipatory lip rounding, in particular. Analyses of labial electromyographic and kinematic data using a minimal-pair paradigm allowed for the differentiation of consonantal and vocalic effects, supporting a frame versus a feature-spreading model of coarticulation. It is believed that the apparent conflicts of previous studies of anticipatory coarticulation might be resolved if experimental design made more use of contrastive minimal pairs and relied less on assumptions about feature specifications of phones.

The Velotrace: a device for monitoring velar position.

This paper describes the Velotrace, a mechanical device designed to allow the collection of analog data on velar position. The device consists of two levers connected through a push rod and carried on a pair of thin supports rods. The device is positioned in the nasal passage with the internal lever resting on the nasal surface of the velum and the external lever positioned outside the nose.

Palatoglossus activity during nasal/nonnasal vowels of Hindi.

Prior electromyographic (EMG) research reveals a lack of agreement as to the role of the palatoglossus muscle in speech. Some reports have concluded that it bears primary responsibility for lowering the velum and that it actively controls velar lowering on nasal sounds in speech, whereas others have concluded that it acts to assist in the tongue-body movements associated with the production of back vowels and linguavelar articulations. To clarify these conflicting claims, EMG recordings were obtained from the palatoglossus (as well as the levator palatini) muscle of a native speaker of Hindi who produced CVC nonsense and meaningful syllables containing a nasal or nonnasal vowel in a symmetric consonantal environment.