Differentiation of Speakers With Glossectomies by Acoustic and Perceptual Measures

Abstract

Speech recordings of 50 patients who had undergone glossal resection procedures were subjected to several analyses, including intelligibility ratings, range of second formants across vowels, and a measure of consonant accuracy. Following assessment, subjects were assigned to groups based on resection similarities. Five major ablative categories were tentatively identified, including unilateral limited, unilateral extensive , a nterior-anterior, posterior-posterior , and bilateral extensive ( Subtotal and Total ). Examination of speech performances across categories revealed significant differences among the groups. Location and extent of glossal resection, as well as other structures involved, were found to differentiate not only degree of speech impairment, but the specific form that such impairment assumed.