Title
Nasal airflow and oral pressure during speech in Spanish speakers.
Abstract
Perceptual and acoustic measures have indicated that the velopharyngeal
mechanism may not be completely closed during oral speech sounds in native speakers of
Spanish (SP); however, there is no direct evidence that this is the case. This lack of
evidence makes it difficult for clinicians to differentiate a spoken language difference
from a disorder, velopharyngeal inadequacy (VPI). Using aeromechanical
measurements, this study determined if the velopharyngeal (VP) mechanism was closed
during oral-only speech production in SP speakers. These measurements were obtained
from seven native English (AE) speakers (control) and seven native SP speakers. Results
revealed no statistically significant differences between groups for all aeromechanical
measurements. However, a trend was observed that the SP group spoke at a faster rate
(syllables per second); and the implications of this observation in relation to nasality is discussed.
Description
University of Minnesota M.A. thesis. June 2010. Major: Speech-Language Pathology. Advisor: Peter J. Watson, Ph.D. 1 computer file (PDF); iii, 37 pages, appendices A-D.
Suggested Citation
Holzwart, Stephanie.
(2010).
Nasal airflow and oral pressure during speech in Spanish speakers..
Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy,
https://hdl.handle.net/11299/93151.