Publication Date

1981

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Seaver, Earl J., III

Degree Name

M.A. (Master of Arts)

Legacy Department

Department of Communicative Disorders

LCSH

Nasality (Phonetics); Velopharyngeal insufficiency; Articulation disorders

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptual and physiological nature of hypernasality in five severely to profoundly deaf adults. Cineradiographic films and tape recordings from a previous study (Stein, 1980) were used in the present investigation. Listeners were asked to judge the degree of hypemasality on a seven- point scale for nine sentences spoken by each of the five subjects. Measurements of the degree and duration of velopharyngeal opening, if any, were made. All of the deaf speakers were perceived to have speech characterized by excessive nasality, while only two of the subjects exhibited any velopharyngeal opening. No significant relationship was found between the degree of perceived nasality and the presence of velopharyngeal opening. It was suggested that the perception of excessive nasality in these deaf speakers was related to variables other than the anatomy and physiology of the velopharyngeal mechanism. Variables discussed in relation to the perception of hypernasality and abnormal velopharyngeal opening included articulation defects, overall speech effectiveness, decreased rate of utterance, and articulatory dynamics.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references.||Includes illustrations.

Extent

v, 70 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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