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This paper employs ultrasound and nasometric instruments in a variable-rate reading task to examine regressive nasalization in Québec French. We measure tongue height according to nasality of context, as well as percent nasality (via an energy-based ratio formula) and vowel duration. Results show high degrees of nasalization for high vowels and cer...
Citations
... This is due to partial transmission of acoustic energy through the velum and into the nasal cavity as the sound goes from the pharynx to the oral cavity (Gildersleeve-Neumann and Dalston, 2001). The amount of sound that is transmitted through the velum depends on the position of the tongue for each vowel (Dow et al., 2019;Kummer 2020). If the back of the tongue is elevated for a high vowel, the area between the tongue and velum becomes smaller. ...
Nasometry is a non-invasive, easy-to-use technique that provides objective data regarding the amount of acoustic energy in the oral and nasal cavities during speech. The goal of this study is to create a Spanish passage and determine normative nasalance values for typical Spanish-speaking children, 3 to 5 years of age, that allows us to compare the values in children of the same age who present hypernasality and velopharyngeal dysfunction. Second, to determine if there are significant differences in nasalance scores based on age or gender. Third, to test the impact of vowel load on nasalance scores. Data were collected from 130 children with no known speech, language, or hearing disorder. Participants were organized into three groups according to age. A nasometric assessment protocol for Spanish was developed based on an adaptation of the MacKay-Kummer Simplified Nasometric Assessment Procedures-Revised (SNAP-R; 2005). All participants were required to repeat the speech stimuli. Data were collected using the icSpeech nasometer and were recorded on EXCEL 365 sheets for further analysis. Normative data is now available for a Spanish version of the SNAP-R Test. No significant differences were found between the genders, but significant differences were found based on age. It was also found that a load of high and anterior vowels, especially the phoneme /i/, increased nasalance scores. This protocol created passages in Spanish that mimic the passages of the SNAP-R Test in English. These Spanish passages were normed for Spanish-speaking children. This study confirms that high vowels result in higher nasalance values and therefore, the vowel composition of a specific passage determines the nasalance score, not the language of the passage.
... The source of the nasal sound is due to the transmission of sound through the velum (Gildersleeve-Neumann and Dalston, 2001;Awan et al., 2015;Blanton et al., 2015;Kummer, 2020). Several studies have shown that high vowels, particularly the vowel /i/, have higher nasalance than low vowels (MacKay and Kummer, 1994;Kummer, 2005;de Castro Marino et al., 2016;Dow et al., 2019;Lewis et al., 2000). For example, in the SNAP Test-R, the average nasalance score for oral syllables with the high vowel /i/ is 17%, whereas the average nasalance score for oral syllables with the low vowel /a/ is 7% (Kummer, 2005). ...
... Variable degrees of tongue elevation during the production of high vowels are an accent and language-dependent attribute and may explain the wide range of differences in nasalance scores of these vowels. Dow et al. (2019) had reported an association between tongue height and nasalance. Their results show high degrees of nasalization for high vowels and certain mid vowels, and that certain speakers increase the nasal salience of mid and/or high vowels, while other speakers modulate tongue height to cancel any displacement of the perceptions of vowel height as the result of nasal pairing. ...
Objective
To establish nasalance score norms for adolescent and young adult native speakers of American English and also determine age-group and gender differences using the Simplified Nasometric Assessment Procedures (SNAP) Test-R and Nasometer II.
Design
Prospective study using a randomly selected sample of participants.
Setting
Greater Cincinnati area and Miami University of Ohio.
Participants
Participants had a history of normal speech and language development and no history of speech therapy. Participants in the adolescent group were recruited from schools in West Clermont and Hamilton County, whereas the young adults were recruited from Miami University of Ohio. The participants of both groups were residents of Cincinnati, Ohio or Oxford, Ohio and spoke midland American English dialect.
Outcome Measures
Mean nasalance scores for the SNAP Test-R.
Results
Normative nasalance scores were obtained for the Syllable Repetition/Prolonged Sounds, Picture-Cued, and Paragraph subtests. Results showed statistically significant nasalance score differences between adolescents and young adults in the Syllable Repetition, Picture-Cued, and Paragraph subtests, and between males and females in the Syllable Repetition and the Sound-Prolonged subtests. A significant univariate effect was found for the syllables and sentences containing nasal consonants and high vowels compared to syllables and sentences containing oral consonants and low vowels. Across all the SNAP Test-R subtests, the females’ nasalance scores were higher than the males. A significant univariate effect was also found across nasal syllables, and high vowels such that the females’ nasalance scores were higher than the males. Tables of normative data are provided that may be useful for clinical purposes.
Conclusion
Norms obtained demonstrated nasalance score differences according to age and gender, particularly in the Syllable Repetition/Prolonged Sound subtest. These differences were discussed in light of potential reasons for their existence and implications for understanding velopharyngeal function. In addition, nasalance scores are affected by the vowel type and place of articulation of the consonant. These facts should be considered when nasometry is used clinically and for research purposes.
