RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Analysis of atypical prosodic patterns in the speech of people with Down syndrome
A1 Corrales Astorgano, Mario
A1 Escudero Mancebo, David
A1 González Ferreras, César
A1 Cardeñoso Payo, Valentín
A1 Martínez Castilla, Pastora
K1 Down syndrome
K1 Down, Síndrome de
K1 Prosody assessment
K1 Evaluación prosódica
K1 Speech
K1 Habla
AB The speech of people with Down syndrome (DS) shows prosodic features which are distinct from those observed in the oral productions of typically developing (TD) speakers. Although a different prosodic realization does not necessarily imply wrong expression of prosodic functions, atypical expression may hinder communication skills. The focus of this work is to ascertain whether this can be the case in individuals with DS. To do so, we analyze the acoustic features that better characterize the utterances of speakers with DS when expressing prosodic functions related to emotion, turn-end and phrasal chunking, comparing them with those used by TD speakers. An oral corpus of speech utterances has been recorded using the PEPS-C prosodic competence evaluation tool. We use automatic classifiers to prove that the prosodic features that better predict prosodic functions in TD speakers are less informative in speakers with DS. Although atypical features are observed in speakers with DS when producing prosodic functions, the intended prosodic function can be identified by listeners and, in most cases, the features correctly discriminate the function with analytical methods. However, a greater difference between the minimal pairs presented in the PEPS-C test is found for TD speakers in comparison with DS speakers. The proposed methodological approach provides, on the one hand, an identification of the set of features that distinguish the prosodic productions of DS and TD speakers and, on the other, a set of target features for therapy with speakers with DS.
PB Elsevier
SN 1746-8094
YR 2021
FD 2021
LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/48103
UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/48103
LA eng
NO Biomedical Signal Processing and Control, 2021, vol. 69, 102913
NO Producción Científica
DS UVaDOC
RD 16-ago-2024