Phonetics and Speech Sciences (말소리와 음성과학)

Korean Society of Speech Sciences (한국음성학회)
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Change in acoustic characteristics of voice quality and speech fluency with aging

노화에 따른 음질과 구어 유창성의 음향학적 특성 변화

  • Hee-June Park (Department of Speech and Hearing Therapy, Catholic University of Pusan) ;
  • Jin Park (Department of Speech and Language Rehabilitation, Catholic Kwandong University)
  • 박희준 (부산가톨릭대학교 언어청각치료학과) ;
  • 박진 (가톨릭관동대학교 언어재활학과)
  • Received : 2023.11.22
  • Accepted : 2023.12.09
  • Published : 2023.12.31
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Abstract

Voice issues such as voice weakness that arise with age can have social and emotional impacts, potentially leading to feelings of isolation and depression. This study aimed to investigate the changes in acoustic characteristics resulting from aging, focusing on voice quality and spoken fluency. To this end, tasks involving sustained vowel phonation and paragraph reading were recorded for 20 elderly and 20 young participants. Voice-quality-related variables, including F0, jitter, shimmer, and Cepstral Peak Prominence (CPP) values, were analyzed along with speech-fluency-related variables, such as average syllable duration (ASD), articulation rate (AR), and speech rate (SR). The results showed that in voice quality-related measurements, F0 was higher for the elderly and voice quality was diminished, as indicated by increased jitter, shimmer, and lower CPP levels. Speech fluency analysis also demonstrated that the elderly spoke more slowly, as indicated by all ASD, AR, and SR measurements. Correlation analysis between voice quality and speech fluency showed a significant relationship between shimmer and CPP values and between ASD and SR values. This suggests that changes in spoken fluency can be identified early by measuring the variations in voice quality. This study further highlights the reciprocal relationship between voice quality and spoken fluency, emphasizing that deterioration in one can affect the other.

나이가 들면서 발생하는 음성 문제는 사회적, 정서적으로 영향을 미칠 수 있으며, 나아가 고립감과 우울증으로 이어질 수 있다. 이에 본 연구에서는 노화로 인한 음향학적 특성 변화를 음질과 구어 유창성의 변화를 알아보고자 한다. 이를 위해 노년층 남성 20명과 청년층 남성 20명이 산출한 연장발성과 구절 읽기 과제를 녹음하여 분석하였다. 음질 분석 변수로 기본주파수(F0), 주기 변동률(jitter), 진폭 변동률(shimmer), 켑스트럼 정점(cepstral peak prominence, CPP) 값을 분석하였으며 구어 유창성 분석 변수로는 평균 음절 길이(average syllable duration, ASD), 조음 속도(articulation rate, AR), 구어 속도(SR)를 분석하였다. 연구결과, 음질 측정에서 노년층의 경우 F0가 높게 나타났으며 jitter, shimmer, CPP의 결과값을 통해 음질이 저하된 것으로 나타났다. 구어 유창성 분석 결과, 노년층은 ASD, AR, SR의 결과값을 통해 느리게 발화하는 것으로 나타났다. 음질과 구어유창성 간 상관관계 분석 결과, shimmer와 CPP 값과 각각 ASD와 SR에서 높은 상관관계가 나타났다. 본 연구결과를 통해 노화에 따른 음성과 구어 유창성 변화를 조기에 발견하고 이에 대한 적절한 훈련법을 제공할 수 있을 것으로 기대된다.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

본 연구에 참여해 음성 데이터를 제공해 주신 모든 대상자분들에게 감사의 말씀을 전한다.

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