This study investigated the effect of palate morphology and anthropometric measures of the head and face on lingual consonant target (positional) variability of twenty one adult speakers (eleven male, ten female). An electromagnetic tracking system (WAVE, NDI, Canada) was used to collect tongue movements while each speaker produced a series of VCV syllables containing a combination of consonants /t, d, s, z, ʃ, tʃ, k, g, j/ and three corner vowel /i, ɑ, u/. Distributions of x, y, and z coordinates representing maximum tongue elevation during the consonants were used to represent target variability across contexts. Palate and anthropometric measures were obtained for each participant. A correlational analysis showed that target variability of the consonants produced in the front of the mouth (e.g. alveolar and palatal) was explained, to a degree, by palate morphology. The variability of velar consonants was not explained by the structural measures.

This study investigated the effect of palate morphology and anthropometric measures of the head and face on lingual consonant target (positional) variability of twenty one adult speakers (eleven male, ten female). An electromagnetic tracking system (WAVE, NDI, Canada) was used to collect tongue movements while each speaker produced a series of VCV syllables containing a combination of consonants /t, d, s, z, ʃ, tʃ, k, g, j/ and three corner vowel /i, ɑ, u/. Distributions of x, y, and z coordinates representing maximum tongue elevation during the consonants were used to represent target variability across contexts. Palate and anthropometric measures were obtained for each participant. A correlational analysis showed that target variability of the consonants produced in the front of the mouth (e.g. alveolar and palatal) was explained, to a degree, by palate morphology. The variability of velar consonants was not explained by the structural measures.

The diploma work was based on the evaluation of dental casts of patients with bilateral cleft lip and palate (BCLP) with a mean age of 10. Patients consist of two groups, patients without defect in speech and with speech impairment (palatolaly). Palatolalies in the literature are primarily associated with velopharyngeal insufficiency. The study tested the working hypothesis that in the failure of speech is involved a different, specific in some way, palatal shape. Dental casts were scanned using a laser scanner and analyzed by 3-D geometric morphometry and multivariate statistics: principal component analysis (PCA), linear regression analysis and finite element analysis (FESA). Using linear regression it was found that the shape of the palate is affected in younger individuals by age, and so had to be 5 patients excluded for further analysis. Patients with palatolaly have lower variability the palatal shape than patients without palatolalie, so their palates are similar to each other and have a specific shape. Palates are wider and lower than in individuals without speech disorder and they have a characteristic deepening behind the anterior part of the palate. We assume that these features in palate morphology primarily the lower arch and the substantial deepening are most likely to affect the...