• Speech Sciences
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.213-220
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• 2007

This study investigates the voice quality including F0, jitter, shimmer, and NHR for the children with cochlear implant (CI group) and those with normal hearing (NH group). The CI group was further classified two sub-groups depending upon the time of surgery (i.e. under four years vs. over four years). Three corner vowels (e.g. /a/, /i/, /u/) with extended vocalization were used and analyzed with Multi-Dimensional Voice Program (Kay Elemetrics, Model 4300). The statistics were made in two independent sample t-test with SPSS 11.5. The results can be summarized as follows: (1) The children with cochlear implanted before 4 years of age had very similar data with the NH group except for the vowel /a/. (2) The children with cochlear implanted after 4 years of age, however, indicated significant differences in Fo (/a/, /i/, /u/), Jitter (/e/), shimmer (/a/, /i/, /u/) and NHR(/a/) in all three vowels. It is concluded that the early CI surgery and the early intervention would be very important to maintain better voice quality.

• MALSORI
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• v.68
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• pp.1-15
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• 2008

This study investigated the vowel effect on laryngeal DDK (L-DDK) in terms of rate, regularity, and range. Thirteen normal speakers participated in this experiment. Speakers were asked to repeat the vowels /a, e, i, o, u/ for vocal fold adduction DDK, and /ha, he, hi, ho, hul for vocal fold abduction DDK. Acoustic data was analyzed via Motor Speech Profile. There were 6 parameters: DDKavp and DDKavr for rate of L-DDK, DDKcvp and DDKjit for regulariry of L-DDK, and DDKavi and DDKcvi for range of L-DDK. Results of MANOVA and Fredman analysis showed no significant vowel effect on rate and regularity of L-DDK. MANOVA revealed significant effects of vowels and vocal fold ab/adduction on range of L-DDK. DDK peak intensity (DDKavi) in vowel /i/ production was lower than in vowels /a, e, o, u/. Variation of DDK peak intensity (DDKcvi) was significantly greater for /ha/ than for /a/ production. The implication of these findings on voice and speech pathology is discussed.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.59-72
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• 2000

Vocal tract resonances are of paramount importance to voice sounds. Resonance frequencies determine vowel quality and the personal voice timber. The aim of this study was to make an effective diction program according to tuning formant frequencies by adjusting the vocal tract shape in professional voice users. Twelve male student singers and eleven female student singers participated in this study. The subjects repeated five simple vowels /a, e, i, o, u/ in normal speech and singing. The spoken vowels and sung vowels were measured by formant frequencies and the singer's formant frequencies using CSL and DSP Sona-Graph. Separately, Plot formants program was used to draw the vowel chart. The results were as follows. (1) Total formant frequencies of female singers were 11% higher than those of males singers in singing. (2) The F1 and F3 of sung vowels increased compared to F1 and F3 spoken vowels. However, The F2 of sung vowels decreased in comparison with F2 of spoken vowels. (3) Posterior vowel /u/ were moved anteriorly. This phenomenon seemed to be due to head voice singing training. (4) Singer's formant frequencies in student singers appeared according to the part: 2560 Hz for baritone, 2760 Hz for Tenor, 2821 Hz for Mezzo soprano and 3420 Hz for soprano.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.55-64
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• 2014

This study measured formant bandwidths of profound hearing impaired children and examined the characteristics of their articulation. For this study, 10 cochlear implanted children(CI), 10 hearing aid children(HA) and 10 normal hearing children(NH) were asked to read 7 Korean vowels(/ɑ, ʌ, o, u, ɯ, i, ɛ/). The subjects' readings were recorded by NasalView and analyzed by Praat. The analysis of the formant bandwidths explains the degree of vocal fold opening and the characteristics of radiation. Through the analysis of formant bandwidth, we can see that the hearing-impaired maintain vocal fold tension when they speak high vowels and characteristics of radiation. Narrower B1 means better maintain vocal fold tension, wider B2 means more front and wider B3 means the rounder lips. CI's B1 was widest and NH's was narrowest. And females' B1 was wider than males'. Among vowels, B1 of /a/ was widest, and B1 of /i/ was narrowest. In the case of B2, HA and NH's B2 was wider than CI's. Females' B2 was wider than males'. And B2 of /i/ was widest, and B2 of /ʌ/ was narrowest. In the case of B3, NH's was widest, and CI's was narrowest. Males' was wider than females'. Among vowels, B3 of /o/ was widest, and B3 of /ɛ/ was narrowest. As a result, first, through the analysis of B1, we can find that NH and males could better maintain vocal fold tension than the hearing-impaired or females, and all children articulate /i/ with vocal fold tension than other vowels. Second, through the analysis of B2, NH and HA articulate vowels with the weaker rounded than CI does. And females articulate vowels with the weaker rounded than males do. Third, through the analysis of B3, NH articulate vowels with the rounder than HA or CI do, and males articulate vowels with the rounder than females do. Through the results, we can expect that the analysis of formant bandwidth will be applied to the therapy of articulation for the hearing-impaired with hearing aids or cochlear implant.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.25-31
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• 2013

This study examined cross-generational changes in the vowel system of Seoul Korean. Acoustic analyses of the vowel formants of /o/ and /u/, and their Euclidean distances in the vowel space were undertaken to explore an on-going merger of these two vowels as proposed in previous acoustic studies and a phonological analysis by Chae (1999). A robust cross-generational change of /o/ and /u/ was found, more evident for female speakers than for male speakers. For female speakers, with each successive generation, /o/ became increasingly approximated with /u/, regardless of the syllable positions that the target vowels were posited, whereas the cross-generational differences in the Euclidean distances were only shown in the second syllable position for the male speakers. These results demonstrate that 1) women are more advanced than men in the on-going approximation of /o/ and /u/; 2) the approximation of /o/ and /u/ is common in the non-initial position. Taken together, the merger of /o/ and /u/ appears to be in progress in Seoul Korean.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.45-51
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• 2002

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of vowel type on the nasalance score. Twenty one male adults without VPI produced 5 types of vowels (/a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/) in two conditions-normal and simulated VPI condition. Nasalance scores were measured for each vowel. These data were compared between conditions and among vowel types. The results were as follow : For all vowels, nasalance scores were significantly higher in simulated VPI condition than in normal condition. The two conditions yielded different patterns in terms of the degree of nasalance across the 5 vowels. In normal condition, nasalance scores were higher in front vowels than in medial or back vowels. But in simulated VPI condition, nasalance scores were higher in high vowels than in mid or low vowels.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.39-47
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• 2016

While acoustic studies in the past decade documented a raised /o/ by showing their lowered first formants (F1) almost overlapped with those of high back vowel /u/, no consensus has been made in terms of how this /o/-raising affects the vowels as a system in Seoul Korean. The current study aimed to investigate the age- and gender-related differences of the relative distance among the vowels to better understand the influence of this on-going sound change on the vowel system. We measured the static and dynamic spectral characteristics (F1 and F2) of the seven Korean monophthong vowels /e a ʌ o u ɨ i/ in the spontaneous speech of Seoul Corpus, and depicted the patterns of 30 individual speakers (10 speakers in each group of teens, 20s and 40s) as a function of age and gender. The static spectral examination showed low F1 values of /o/ in the spontaneous speech corpus confirming the vowel /o/ raising, and also revealed greater F2 values of /u, ɨ/ suggesting their anterior articulations. The tendencies were stronger when the speakers were younger and female. The spectral trajectories further showed that the F1 and F2 between /o/ and /u/ were differentiated throughout the vowel mid-point although the trajectories gradually merged near the vowel mid point in the older male speakers' productions. The acoustic evidence of contrast among /o, u, ɨ/ supports that the raised /o/ is not indicative of a merger with /u/ but rather implying a chain-like vowel shift in the Seoul Korean.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.177-185
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• 2009

This study investigates the differences in mean F0, intensity, jitter and shimmer across hearing aid, gender and vowels. For this study, 20 hearing-impaired adults and 20 normal hearing adults as a control group were asked to read 7 Korean vowels(/$\alpha$, $\Lambda$, o, u, ɯ, i, $\varepsilon$/). Subjects' readings were recorded by NasalView and analyzed by Praat. Results showed that the means of F0 were significantly higher in the hearing impaired group(HL) than in the normal hearing group(NH), in the female group than in male group, and in high vowels than in low vowels. Second, intensity was significantly higher in the normal hearing group(NH) than in the hearing impaired group(HL), in male group than in female group, and in low vowels than in high vowels. Third, jitter was significantly higher in the normal hearing group(NH) than in the hearing impaired group(HL), and in female group than in male group and in the back vowels than in front vowels. Finally, shimmer was significantly higher in the normal hearing group(NH) than in the hearing impaired group(HL), and in male group than in female group. In particular, the male group showed that front vowels tend to have higher shimmer than back vowels.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.135-145
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• 2010

This study investigates the differences in mean F0, intensity, jitter, and shimmer across hearing aid, gender, and vowels. For this study, 18 hearing-impaired children, 18 cochlear implanted children, and 18 normal hearing children as a control group were asked to read seven Korean vowels (/$\alpha$, $\wedge$, o, u, w, i, $\varepsilon$/). Subjects' readings were recorded by NasalView and analyzed by Praat. Results showed that the means of F0 were significantly higher in the hearing impaired group than in the normal hearing group; in the female group than in the male group; and in high vowels than in low vowels. Second, intensity was significantly higher in the hearing impaired group than in the normal hearing group; in the female group than in the male group; and in low vowels than in high vowels. Third, jitter was significantly higher in the normal hearing group than in the hearing impaired group; in the female group than in the male group; and in back vowels than in front vowels. Finally, shimmer was significantly higher in the CI group than in the normal hearing group or the hearing aided group; in the male group than in the female group; and in low vowels than in high vowels.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.145-155
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• 2003

This study compared $F_{0}$ and the first three formants of eight Korean monophthongs produced by nine transgenders (male to female) to those of eighteen normal adults. Voice analysis was done by Praat (version 4.049). A one-way ANOVA with Tukey HSD post hoc tests were performed to determine statistical differences in $F_{0}$ and formant values obtained from transgenders, and normal male and female subjects. Results indicated that there was no significant difference in $F_{1}$ of /u/, /$\Lambda$/, and /o/, $F_{2}$ of /u/, /$\Lambda$/, and /i/ and $F_{3}$ of /u/ among the 3 groups (transgenders, normal males and normal females). However, in the comparison of transgenders vs. males, a significant difference was observed in $F_{0}$ of /o/, and $F_{2}$ of /i/, /a/, /e/, and /${\ae}$/ and $F_{3}$ of /e/. Furthermore, in the comparison of transgenders vs. females, a significant difference was also observed in $F_{0}$ of all vowels, $F_{1}$ of /i/, /$\alpha$/, /e/, /${\ae}$/, and /i/. $F_{2}$ of /i/, and /${\ae}$/, and $F_{3}$ of /i/, /$\alpha$/, /$\Lambda$/, /e/, /${\ae}$/, /i/, and /o/. Also, perceptual judgment of the transgenders' voice came out somewhat correlated strongly with their $F_{0}$ values but not much with the formant values. It was concluded that the transgenders' acoustic parameters are placed in between those of the normal males and females in. terms of fundamental and formant frequency analyses of vowels. Thus, it was assumed that those differences might stem from the transgenders' original big resonating cavities.