Meister H, Tepeli D, Wagner P, Hess W, Walger M, von Wedel H, Lang-Roth R
Jean-Uhrmacher-Institut für klinische HNO-Forschung, Universität zu Köln, Köln.
HNO. 2007 Apr;55(4):264-70. doi: 10.1007/s00106-006-1452-1.
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.
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.
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.
韵律具有多种语言功能，涉及言语的特定方面，如重音、语调及停顿。潜在的声学量（振幅包络、音高频率和时间结构）仅能在有限程度上由人工耳蜗（CI）进行处理和传递。目前，在德语区尚无足够的测试可用于评估韵律元素的感知。已开展了不同实验以研究多种韵律线索，其结果将用作合适测试的基础。
实验使用了多种韵律材料。对频率和/或时长不同的最小对立体、单词和短语中的重音、疑问句与陈述句以及短语划分进行了辨别测量。在10名听力正常的受试者和5名人工耳蜗使用者中进行了测量。
在所有测试模块中，听力正常的受试者辨别率高达96 - 100%。单词重音测试存在问题，因为结果受到不同混杂因素的影响。其他测量结果确实证明基本适用于人工耳蜗使用者。早期结果显示，人工耳蜗使用者在基于时间结构的韵律线索方面问题较少，在这些测试中的结果与听力正常的受试者相似。相比之下，人工耳蜗使用者在感知基于振幅变化，尤其是基于音高频率变化的韵律线索方面表现较差，尽管其中一些人在这些测试中也取得了很好的成绩。这些初步测试可为开发一套德语韵律测试组合奠定基础，该测试组合包含数量有限的针对不同韵律线索的子测试。
