BACKGROUND & AIMS:
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:Prosody has a myriad of linguistic functions and involves specific aspects of speech, such as stress, intonation and pauses. The underlying acoustic quantities (amplitude envelope, pitch frequency, and temporal structure) can be processed and transmitted by cochlear implants (CI) only to a limited extent. At present, no adequate tests are available in the German-speaking world for evaluation of the perception of prosodic elements. Different experiments have been conducted to address several prosodic cues, and the results are to be used as a basis for appropriate tests.
METHODS:Various prosodic materials were used for the experiments. Discrimination was measured for minimal pairs differing in frequency and/or duration, accents in words and phrases, questions versus statements and phrasing. Measurements were performed in ten normal-hearing subjects and five with cochlear implants.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:In all test modules, the subjects with normal hearing proved to have high discrimination rates of 96-100%. The test of word stresses was problematic because the results were influenced by different confounders. The other measurements did prove to be basically suitable for use in the subjects with implants. Early results revealed that the subjects with CI had few problems with prosodic cues based on the temporal structure, the outcome being similar to that of the subjects with normal hearing in these tests. In contrast, the performance of subjects with CI in perceiving prosodic cues based on amplitude variations and, especially, on alterations in pitch frequency was worse, even though some of them achieved very good results in these tests too. These preliminary tests can form the basis for development of a German-language prosody test battery with a limited number of subtests addressing different prosodic cues.
背景与目标:
背景与目的:韵律具有多种语言功能,涉及语音的特定方面,例如重音,语调和停顿。潜在的声音量(幅度包络,音调频率和时间结构)只能在有限的程度上由人工耳蜗(CI)处理和传输。目前,德语区还没有足够的测试来评估韵律元素的感知。已经针对不同的韵律线索进行了不同的实验,其结果将用作适当测试的基础。
方法:采用多种韵律材料进行实验。测量了在频率和/或持续时间,单词和短语的重音,问题与陈述和措辞上不同的最小对的歧视。在十名听力正常的受试者和五名人工耳蜗的受试者中进行了测量。
结果与结论:在所有测试模块中,听力正常的受试者被证明具有96-100%的高识别率。单词重音的测试是有问题的,因为结果受不同混杂因素的影响。事实证明,其他测量值基本上适合用于植入对象。早期结果显示,CI患者在时间结构上对韵律提示几乎没有问题,其结果与这些测试中听力正常的受试者的结果相似。相反,尽管CICI受试者中有一些在这些测试中也取得了很好的成绩,但他们在感知基于振幅变化(尤其是音调频率变化)的韵律提示方面的表现却较差。这些初步测试可以构成开发德语韵律测验电池的基础,其中包含针对不同韵律提示的有限数量的子测验。