The document describes various aspects of speech acoustics including average speech intensity and frequency ranges, phonemic cues for different speech sounds, and constraints on speech production. It discusses how hearing loss affects speech perception by eliminating access to certain speech characteristics first for more severe losses and preserving more for mild losses. The effects of different audiogram configurations like rising vs sloping losses on speech intelligibility are also covered.

1. Speech acoustics Objectives: Describe relative frequency and intensity of phonemes by voice, manner, and formant frequency. Describe various phonemic cues. Describe speech constraints.

2. Average speech intensity ~65 dB SPL (~45 dB HL) 30 dB range Any vowel has more power than any consonant

3. Average speech frequency ~50 – 10,000 Hz Most energy below 1000 Hz Fundamental frequency Men: 100 Hz Women: 200 Hz Children: 300 Hz Crying babies: 500 Hz Cues for talker identity

4. Average speech duration Vowels: 130 – 360 msec Consonants: 20 – 150 msec Rate: ~5 syllables/second; ~12 phonemes/second

5. Vowel formants Low F1 Low F2 Low F1 High F2 High F1 Low F2 High F1 High F2

6. Vowel formants

7. Consonants: place, manner, voicing w

8. Consonants: energy bands

9. Phonemic cues - Stops Closure Voiceless stops – silent period Voiced stops – low level energy Burst Wide-band energy ~40 msec Greater intensity for voiceless stops Frequency depends on place Formant transition First formant always rising Second formant transition depends on place

10. Phonemic cues - Stops Voice easier to detect than place For voiced stops Voice-onset time is earlier Energy present at fundamental frequency Burst energy is lower in amplitude Vowels are longer in duration before voiced final stops (“eyes” v. “ice”)

11. Phonemic cues - Nasals Always voiced Continuant Nasal resonance highest for /m/ lowest for /n/ Second formant (frequency and transition) gives place information

12. Phonemic cues - Fricatives Hissing quality Voiced fricatives Periodic Lower frequency Lower amplitude Greater overall energy (from fundamental) Sibilants (s, z, sh, zh) Higher amplitude than other fricatives

13. -f- -θ- -s- -S-

14. Suprasegmental cues Stress changes in fundamental frequency, intensity, duration Intonation changes in fundamental frequency, pitch pattern expresses attitudes, feeling, meaning (command, request, statement) Duration variations in speech sounds due to context of other sounds

15. Speech constraints Syntactic S = NP (Aux) VP NP = (Det) (AP) N (PP) “the naughty boy in the daycare…” VP = V (NP) (PP) (Adv) “…took the toy away brusquely”

16. Speech constraints Syntactic S = NP (Aux) VP NP = (Det) (AP) N (PP) “the naughty boy in the daycare…” VP = V (NP) (PP) (Adv) “…took the toy away brusquely”

17. Speech constraints Syntactic The question “What should you eat” Answer is a noun phrase The question “How should you eat” Answer is an adverbial phrase

18. Speech constraints Semantic Words in a sentence are related meaningfully “Plug the mouse into the computer” Situational Conversation usually refers to the context of the environment “I like that oat!” Mall vs. Farm

19. Overlapping cues help protect the signal from noise Speech predictability helps protect the signal from noise Noise can come from the speaker (poor intelligibility, etc) the environment (distractions, etc) the listener (ESL, etc)

20. Effects of hearing loss on speech perception Objectives: Describe speech characteristics that are lost and that are preserved for hearing losses of various degree, type and configuration.

21. Auditory Response Area

22. Auditory Response Area

23. Auditory Response Area

24. Speech audiogram

25. Speech audiogram X X X X X X

26. Speech audiogram

27. Consonants: energy bands

28. Consonants: energy bands

29. Consonants: energy bands

30. Speech audiogram

31. Speech audiogram

35. 34 dots

36. Correlating SII to speech Adult values (children would be worse) Digits easy Words hard

37. X X X X X X

38. Correlating SII to speech

42. Deafness No access to average speech

43. Severe Access to only loudest components of speech Speech production High airflow rate Speech initiation at low lung volumes Poor velar control (nasality) High fundamental frequency Slow speech rate

44. Moderate Access to louder half of speech, or to loud speech Speech production Substitutions and distortions Errors in affricate, fricatives and blends

45. Slight to Mild Access to all but the quietest components of speech Speech production Fewer distortions/substitutions Good intelligibility

46. Rising v. Sloping loss

47. Rising v. Sloping loss SII = 64 SII = 45