Dynamic Acoustic Evidence of Nasalization as a Compensatory Mechanism for Voicing in Spanish Apraxic Speech

Anna K Marczyk (1) , Yohann Meynadier (1) , Yulia Gaydina (1) , Maria-Josep Solé (2)

1 LPL - Laboratoire Parole et Langage
2 UAB - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona = Autonomous University of Barcelona = Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona

This paper is concerned with the phonetic realization of the voicing contrast by two Spanish speakers with surgery-related apraxia of speech and two matched control speakers. Specifically, it examines whether speakers with AOS, widely reported to have a deficit in laryngeal control, use nasal leak as a compensatory mechanism aimed at facilitating the initiation of voicing in word-initial stops. The results show that the two apraxic speakers produced prevoicing in /b d g/ in only one third of the cases (correctly identified as 'voiced'). In these cases, however, they exhibited significantly longer prevoicing than control subjects, and this a longer voiced portion was closely related to a longer nasal murmur. These results shed light on the compensation strategies used by apraxic subjects to achieve voicing. Differences in the intensity patterns of nasal and voiced stops indicate that apraxic speakers control the timing of velopharyngeal gesture, suggesting that apraxia is a selective impairment.

Mots clés: Nasality; Voicing; Apraxia of speech; Acoustics

Domaines: Linguistique

Anna K Marczyk, Yohann Meynadier, Yulia Gaydina, Maria-Josep Solé. Dynamic Acoustic Evidence of Nasalization as a Compensatory Mechanism for Voicing in Spanish Apraxic Speech. Fang Q.; Dang J.; Perrier P.; Wei J.; Wang L; Yan N. Studies on Speech Production. 11th International Seminar, ISSP 2017, Tianjin, China, October 16-19, 2017, Revised Selected Papers, 10733, Springer International Publishing, pp.225-236, 2018, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, 978-3-030-00125-4. ⟨10.1007/978-3-030-00126-1_20⟩. ⟨hal-01979546⟩