Mahdi Sarayani, Amir Poursadegh, Reyhane Mohamadi,
Volume 4, Issue 1 (2-2021)
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Speech intelligibility is affected by vowel quality. Auditory feedback is an essential factor in vowel quality. The purpose of the current study was to compare vowel space and formant frequencies in Normal-Hearing (NH) and Cochlear-Implanted (CI) Persian-speaking children aged 4 to 6 years.
Methods: The participants were 10 CI children (5 girls and 5 boys) aged 4 to 6 years. All children had congenital hearing loss and received a multichannel CI before 2 years of age. The control group comprised 20 NH children (10 girls and 10 boys) aged 4 to 6 years. The two groups were matched by age. The participants were asked to produce six Persian vowels (/u/, /o/, /a/, /i/, /e/, /æ/) in /ChVCd/ context and then the average of formant frequencies (F1, F2,) was measured using Praat analysis software (Version: 5, 3, 27). The Independent samples t-test was conducted to assess the differences in F1 and F2 values between the two groups using SPSS 16.
Results: The mean values of F1 and F2 of all 6 Persian vowels were not significantly different between CI and NH children (P>0.05).
Conclusion: Findings of the present study implied that children who were implanted CI under 2 years of age are likely to produce Persian vowels similar to normal-hearing children.
Atefe Qodrati Tavana, Atefe Sadat Mirsaeedi, Leila Ghasisin, Zahra Bemani,
Volume 5, Issue 1 (2-2022)
Abstract
Background and Objectives: This study aims to examine the acoustic characteristics of the second formant (F2) transition produced by Persian-speaking Broca’s aphasics compared to normal speakers.
Methods: Eight subjects diagnosed with Broca’s aphasia and eight normal speakers participated in this study. The subjects produced six words (/ bâd / - / pâ / - / tâb / - / dâs / - / kâr / and / gâz /). The samples were analyzed using PRAAT and the F2 transition was measured for these words. F2 values were compared to the data available in the literature.
Results: Since the data distribution was abnormal in this study, the Mann-Whitney U test was applied. The results of this study show that the mean of the second formant transition in healthy people and people with aphasia are significantly different from each other in the words /Bâd/ and /Kâr/ (P<0.05), in which the mean of the second formant transition in both words was higher in the group of people with aphasia compared to healthy people. The results also showed that the mean of the second-formant transition in these six words is significantly different and higher in the group of aphasic people compared to the group of healthy people (P<0.05).
Conclusion: In patients with Broca’s aphasia, the F2 value was higher than normal speakers. The nature of Broca’s aphasia suggests that subjects with Broca’s aphasia show higher F2 values. Also, the focus on Broca’s aphasia indicates difficulties in applying secondary articulation to a sufficient extent. The results of these studies are likely clinically applicable in particular to improving assessment approaches and therapeutic programs for Persian speakers with Broca’s aphasia.
