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Spectral Moment Analysis has helped further our understanding of the spectral properties of obstruent speech production; however, the physiologic correlates of these spectral measures are not well understood. The aim of the present study was to examine the possible correlations between the linguapalatal contact patterns used to produce the fricatives /s/ and /ʃ/ and the resulting spectral characteristics. Using spectral moment analysis and electropalatography (EPG), the real-word productions of eight speakers of American English were investigated. The spectral measures for the fricative tokens in the present study were found to be similar to data reported in previous research with adult speakers. Although the majority of the correlations examined in this study were found to be statistically significant, none of the correlations accounted for a large proportion of the variance in the data. Generally the strongest correlations were found between the spectral mean and the symmetry of the contact pattern in the anterior region of the hard palate and the width of the contact pattern in the medial region of the palate. These findings may indicate that although the width and symmetry of linguapalatal contact contributes to the spectral signature /s/ and /ʃ/ fricatives, they are likely only part of a much more complex process that may involve other mechanisms such as lip rounding, tongue groove depth and shape, aerodynamic factors, and the shape of the vocal tract in other regions.

Spectral moment analysis has helped further our understanding of the spectral properties of obstruent speech production; however, the physiologic correlates of these spectral measures are not well understood. The aim of the present study was to examine the possible correlations between the linguapalatal contact patterns used to produce the stops /t/ and /k/ and the resulting spectral characteristics. Using spectral moment analysis and electropalatography, the real-word productions of eight speakers of American English were investigated. The spectral measures for the stop consonant tokens in the present study were found to be similar to data reported in previous research with adult speakers. The majority of the correlations examined in this study were found to be statistically insignificant, although significant correlations were found between the anterior vertical and posterior vertical indices with spectral variance and spectral skewness, respectively. Despite the significance of these correlations, this did not account for a large proportion of variance in the data. Further analysis using curve estimates revealed significant curvilinear relationships among the data. These findings may indicate that although the anterior-posterior tongue placement and symmetry of linguapalatal contact contribute to the spectral signature of /t/ and /k/ stop consonants, this articulatory movement is only part of a more complex process that may involve aerodynamic factors and the overall shape of the vocal tract.

Electropalatography (EPG) is a computer-based device that uses a fitted pseudopalate (similar to an orthodontic retainer) with embedded electrodes to track tongue-to-palate contact during speech for the purposes of providing treatment for a variety of communication disorders. This study evaluated six elementary school-aged children's ability to adapt their speech to the presence of the pseudopalate in their mouth. The participants' adaptation for the consonants /t/ and /k/ was examined over eight time intervals throughout a two and half hour time period. Adaptation was evaluated by measuring the duration, spectral mean, spectral variance, and relative intensity of the target sounds. The participants demonstrated significant changes in speech patterns upon initial placement of the pseudopalate across the spectral parameters of mean, variance, and relative intensity. However, no significant differences in duration were found for either phoneme in the pseudopalate versus no pseudopalate conditions. Therefore, temporal parameters for consonant duration were relatively unaffected by the pseudopalate. The children in the study were able to make some speech adaptations to the pseudopalate, however evidence from the /t/ and /k/ productions indicated that the majority of participants were not able to fully adapt to the EPG device during the two and a half hour time period. Clinicians using EPG must take adaptation effects into consideration.

An unique Czech fricative thrill - /ř/ - was studied mainly by Dr. Hála and Dr. Chlumský in the first half of the twentieth century. The methods employed were rather simple and the experiments were done on limited sample size. We decided to revisit and extend the results with electropalatography (EPG). Four female and three men participated in the experiments that were based on reading aloud voiced and voiceless /ř/ in various contexts. We dedicated a short part to dynamic characteristics of /ř/ and focused predominantly on the area of linguopalatal contact. We described the points of linguopalatal contact during /ř/ with adjusted anteriority index (CA). The possible factors affecting the CA are discussed. We scrutinized the differences in CA depending on selected factors for the whole group and each participant. The data suggest that thrill /ř/ occurs in the alveolar area. Anteriority index was chiefly dependent on voicing /ř/, type of the read material and also differed among various speakers.

The purpose of this study is to observe childrens adaptation to an electropalatographic (EPG) sensor. Sound recordings of six children between the ages of 7;0 and 9;11 sampled at 30-minute intervals over a two-hour period of wearing an EPG sensor were perceptually evaluated to quantify the children's adaptation over time. Twenty native speakers of American English evaluated the pronunciation of a series of words with embedded stops and fricatives produced with and without an EPG sensor in place. When collapsed over speaker and stimulus type, listener ratings decreased significantly after inserting the EPG sensor. Ratings then increased significantly after the sensor was in place for 30 minutes, and again after 60 minutes. No significant improvement in pronunciation was noted between the 60- and 120-minute test intervals, and adaptation did not reach preplacement levels until the sensor was removed. Mixed results were found in how speakers adapted across the different stimulus types. Adaptation was most consistent across speakers for the conversation conditions, but occurred most rapidly for /s/ and /k/. Speakers showed the best overall adaptation for the phoneme /t/ by the end of testing. These results are similar to several adaptation studies with adults, and the two studies with children. Results from this study will help speech pathologists effectively use EPG technology to help children accurately pronounce speech sounds, and to generalize these pronunciations to their normal speech.

Electropalatography (EPG) provides real-time visual biofeedback for linguapalatal contact during speech and swallowing. Historically, EPG has proved to be an effective tool for assessment and treatment of a variety of speech disorders across a wide age range. The present thesis is part of a larger study examining the effectiveness of using EPG in assisting second language (L2) learners to acquire the German fricatives , [x], and //. Real and nonsense word productions were collected from six native German speakers. Electrode activation levels were generally highest for and lowest for [x]. Even when considering the impact of vowel context, [x] consistently showed only trace linguapalatal contact. Further research regarding the use of EPG as a tool for second language acquisition may include the development of linguapalatal contact maps from which L2 learners can compare their production of , [x], and // to native production. It is hoped that the information contained in this thesis will expand the current uses of EPG as a tool to assist L2 learners in acquiring non-native speech sounds.

The purpose of this study is to observe childrens adaptation to an electropalatographic (EPG) sensor. Sound recordings of six children between the ages of 7;0 and 9;11 sampled at 30-minute intervals over a two-hour period of wearing an EPG sensor were perceptually evaluated to quantify the children's adaptation over time. Twenty native speakers of American English evaluated the pronunciation of a series of words with embedded stops and fricatives produced with and without an EPG sensor in place. When collapsed over speaker and stimulus type, listener ratings decreased significantly after inserting the EPG sensor. Ratings then increased significantly after the sensor was in place for 30 minutes, and again after 60 minutes. No significant improvement in pronunciation was noted between the 60- and 120-minute test intervals, and adaptation did not reach preplacement levels until the sensor was removed. Mixed results were found in how speakers adapted across the different stimulus types. Adaptation was most consistent across speakers for the conversation conditions, but occurred most rapidly for /s/ and /k/. Speakers showed the best overall adaptation for the phoneme /t/ by the end of testing. These results are similar to several adaptation studies with adults, and the two studies with children. Results from this study will help speech pathologists effectively use EPG technology to help children accurately pronounce speech sounds, and to generalize these pronunciations to their normal speech.

Apraxia of speech (AOS) is a neurogenic speech disorder that is characterised by deficits in the articulatory and prosodic domains of speech production. A range of physiologic assessment techniques have been employed in an attempt to elucidate the physiological underpinnings of articulatory and prosodic defects in AOS. However, despite the advancement of electromagnetic articulography (EMA), a technique that facilitates safe, non-invasive assessment of intra-oral structures, little research has investigated lingual kinematics during speech production in participants with AOS. Tongue-to-palate contact patterns, on the contrary, have been investigated in AOS. However, most of this research relied upon descriptive analysis, rather than instrumental techniques including electropalatography (EPG). Therefore, the present thesis aimed to utilise EMA and EPG to provide a comprehensive assessment of lingual movement and tongue-to-palate contact patterns during word-initial consonant singletons and consonant clusters, during mono- and multisyllabic words, in AOS. The strength of coupling between the tongue and jaw and tongue-tip and tongue-back was also examined, as was consonant cluster coarticulation. Five participants (three females and two males) with AOS and a concomitant non-fluent aphasia participated in the project. The mean age of the group at the time of the EMA assessment was 53.6 years (SD = 12.60; range 35 - 67 years). At the time of initial assessment, all participants were a minimum of 12 months post onset of stroke (M = 1.67 years; SD = 0.72). Perceptual analysis indicated that each of the five participants with AOS presented with the following mandatory characteristics: sound distortions, sound prolongations, syllabic speech output, and dysprosody. A control group of 12 neurologically unimpaired participants (8 male, 4 female; M = 52.08 years; SD = 12.52; age range = 29 - 70 years) also participated in the study. The apraxic speakers’ tongue-tip and tongue-back movements were initially profiled during monosyllabic word production using EMA. Movement duration, distance, maximum velocity, maximum acceleration and deceleration, and velocity profile index values were recorded during word-initial consonant singletons (i.e., /t, s, l, k/) and consonant clusters (i.e., /kl, sk/). Results indicated that the participants with AOS evidenced significantly prolonged movement durations and, in some instances, significantly greater articulatory distances, relative to the control group. All measures pertaining to speed appeared to be relatively unimpaired. Phonetic complexity had a variable impact on the articulation of word-initial consonants. The results were able to account for the overall slow rate of speech exhibited by the participants with AOS. In a subsequent study, EMA was employed to investigate the impact of increasing word length on lingual kinematics for five participants with AOS. Target consonant singletons and consonant clusters were embedded in the word-initial position of one, two, and three syllable words (e.g., tar, target, targeting). Movement duration appeared to be most sensitive to the effect of word length during consonant singleton production. However, word length effects were absent during consonant cluster production. The data were discussed in the context of motor theories of speech production. The final EMA investigation examined the strength of coupling between the tongue and jaw and tongue-tip and tongue-back during /ta, sa, la, ka/ syllable repetitions, in a group of five participants with AOS. In comparison to the control group, four participants with AOS exhibited significantly stronger articulatory coupling for alveolar and/or velar targets, indicative of decreased functional movement independence. The reduction in functional movement independence was thought to reflect an attempt to simplify articulatory control, or alternatively, a decrease in the ability to differentially control distinct articulatory regions. To complement the EMA data, EPG was employed to investigate the spatial characteristics of linguopalatal contact during word-initial consonant singletons (i.e., /t, s, l, k/) and consonant clusters (i.e., /kl, sk/) in three participants with AOS. Through the use of quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques, misdirected articulatory gestures (e.g., double articulation patterns), distorted linguopalatal contact patterns (alveolar fricatives), lingual overshoot, and for one participant, significantly greater spatial variability were identified in the linguopalatal contact data. Pattern of closure appeared to be relatively unimpaired during alveolar plosive and approximant productions, and lingual undershoot and true omission errors were absent. The results were discussed in relation to their impact on phonetic distortion. A subsequent EPG study examined the temporal and spatial aspects of consonant cluster coarticulation in three participants with AOS. Target stimuli included ‘scar’ and ‘class’. In contrast to what was expected, each of the participants with AOS appeared able to coproduce elements within a consonant cluster. Appropriately, pattern of linguopalatal contact did not appear to be influenced by coproduction. Amount of linguopalatal contact did differ significantly on occasion. Coarticulatory effects were appropriately absent for each of the participants with AOS during alveolar fricative production in ‘scar’; however, the control group and each of the apraxic speakers exhibited place of articulation assimilation during velar stop production. The control group and two participants with AOS produced discrete velar and alveolar articulations during ‘class’; one participant with AOS evidenced coarticulatory effects during the /kl/ cluster. The research findings indicated that consonant cluster coarticulation was generally maintained in word-onset position, and it was postulated that future research should endeavour to investigate consonant cluster coarticulation in consonant sequences that span a syllable boundary. The EMA and EPG research findings presented in this thesis inform about the underlying physiological nature of articulatory disturbances in AOS. These findings will be discussed in the context of contemporary theories of speech motor control.

Cette recherche veut unir deux domaines qui pour longtemps on été séparés : la dialectologie et la phonétique expérimentale et, bénéficiant de ce rapprochement, elle voudrait apporter sa contribution à une connaissance plus approfondie des dialectes du Salentin (Pouilles, Italie du sud). Nous avons analysé acoustiquement et articulatoirement certains aspects encore peu connus de certaines variétés du Salentin central (Lecce, Monteroni di Lecce, Nardò, Squinzano et Torchiarolo): le vocalisme atone et tonique et ses caractéristiques (les diphtongues métaphoniques palatale et labio-vélaire /wƐ/ et /jƐ/), ainsi que les consonnes rétroflexes. Plus spécifiquement, nous avons étudié la réalisation acoustique des voyelles toniques, en particulier, celles des voyelles moyennes antérieure et postérieure /Ɛ/ et /ɔ/ quand elles sont suivies des contextes finaux atones -i, -u et -e/-a/ ; l’action métaphonique des voyelles hautes atones finales -i et -u sur les voyelles moyennes toniques antérieure et postérieure et les processus de changement phonétique à l’origine de rétroflexes au niveau des liquides latérales (géminées en position intervocalique) et vibrantes (dans des groupes homorganiques tautosyllabiques), dans cette zone romane.Les résultats de notre analyse acoustique montrent que le vocalisme tonique de ces cinq points d’enquête est asymétrique, c’est-à-dire que la voyelle moyenne antérieure /Ɛ/ est plus fermée que la voyelle moyenne postérieure /ɔ/; le vocalisme atone ne déclenche d’action métaphonique que pour Monteroni di Lecce où la voyelle /Ɛ/ devient /e/ quand elle est suivie de la voyelle haute finale atone –i. La métaphonie trouvée par Grimaldi (2003) dans le salentin méridional est très répandue au sud extrême du Salento et au fur et à mesure que l’on va vers le nord ce processus s’estompe progressivement : nous ne nous attendions donc pas à trouver un effet de ce type dans cette zone. En ce qui concerne les rétroflexes, d’après nos analyses acoustiques, articulatoires et la littérature précédente, la transcription I.P.A. qui nous semble plus appropriée pour ces segments est [ḍ᷇z] pour le reflet de la latérale latine géminée -LL- qui est un segment cacuminal, géminé (durée de consonne plutôt long), semi-affriqué (burst plus long que pour une simple occlusive et présence de bruit de friction) et alvéolaire/post-alvéolaire (valeur du locus, limite inférieure du bruit, valeur du CoG et électrodes activées dans l’étude éléctropalatographique); les groupes consonantiques [ṭṣ__] et [ṭ :ṣ__]sont des segments cacuminaux, simple et long respectivement (durée totale des groupes consonantiques), affriqués (bruit de friction plutôt long) et alvéolaires/post-alvéolaires (sur la base de la valeur du locus, la limite inférieure du bruit et la valeur du CoG et les électrodes activées dans l’étude éléctropalatographique). / This study makes an attempt to unify two fields which have been separated for a long time : dialectology and experimental phonetics. Benefiting from this approach, our research aims at contributing to provide a deeper knowledge of Sallentine dialectes (Apulia, southern Italy).We analysed acoustically and articulatory some unknonwn aspects of some varieties of central Sallentine (Lecce, Monteroni di Lecce, Nardò, Squinzano et Torchiarolo): unstressed and stressed vocalism and its characteristics (metaphonical palatal and labio-velar diphtongues / wƐ/and /jƐ/ ), as well as retroflex consonants. Specifically, we studied the acoustic realisations of stressed anterior and posterior vowels /Ɛ/ / and /ɔ/ when they are followed by final unstressed vowels -i, -u and -e/-a/; the metaphonic action of unstressed vowels -i and -u on stressed anterior and posterior vowels as well as the phonetic processes concerning lateral liquids (geminate in intervocalic position) and trills (in homorgamical tautosyllabic groups) in this Romance area. Acoustical results show that stressed vocalism at all research points is asymmetric, the anterior vowel /Ɛ/ being closer than the posterior one /ɔ/; unstressed vocalism causes metaphonic action only in Monteroni di Lecce where /Ɛ/ becomes /e/ when it is followed by a final unstressed vowel –i. As metaphony found by Grimaldi (2003) in the southern Sallentine is present in the extreme South of Salento but seems to disappear progressively towards the North, we didn’t except to find this type of effect in this zone. About retroflexes, following our acoustical, articulatory analysis and previous literature, appropriate I.P.A. transcription for these segments is ḍ᷇z] for Latin lateral geminate output -LL- which is a cacuminal, geminate segment (consonant total duration), semi-affricate (longer burst than in plosive and presence of friction noise) and alveolar/post-alveolar (based on locus value, inferior noise limit, CoG value and activated electrodes in the electropalatographic study); consonantal clusters [ṭṣ__] and [ṭ :ṣ__] are cacuminal, simple and long segments respectively (consonant total duration), affricative (long burst) and alveolar/post-alveolar (locus value, inferior noise limit, CoG value and activated electrodes in the electropalatographic study).