Chen Chih-Chi, Lin Keh-chung, Wu Ching-Yi, Chen Chia-Ling, Chen Chia-Hui, Chen Hsieh-Ching, Hong Wei-Hsien, Wong Alice May-Kuen
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Chang Gung Med J. 2008 Sep-Oct;31(5):503-9.
Acoustic analysis had been well incorporated into clinical evaluation and management of children with speech disorders for many years. The aim of this study is to investigate developmental changes in vowel production in Mandarin-speaking children using acoustic study analysis.
A total of 22 children from 5-12 years old were analyzed in this study. Each child read a list of speech materials consisting of 6 dissyllabic words in Mandarin phonemes and the speech samples were recorded. The digitized acoustic recordings were submitted for acoustic analysis. The acoustic parameters in this study include the first and second formant frequencies (F1 and F2) of /a/, /i/ and /u/ and the vowel space. We used the Wilcoxon rank sum test and Spearman's rho correlation test for statistical analysis.
The F1 values of the vowel /i/ were significantly lower in boys than those in girls (p = 0.013) by Wilcoxon ranksum test. The F1 value of the vowel /i/ was negatively correlated with children's age (rho = -0.601, p = 0.003) and their body height (rho = 0.478 p = 0.045). The F1 values of the other two vowels (/u/ and /a/), the F2 values of all three vowels and the vowel space had no association with age and gender.
F1 acoustic parameters have developmental and gender changes in vowel production in Mandarin-speaking children. The data in this study provide references for acoustic assessment of Mandarin-speaking children.
多年来，声学分析已很好地融入到言语障碍儿童的临床评估和管理中。本研究的目的是通过声学研究分析来调查说普通话儿童元音发音的发育变化。
本研究共分析了22名5至12岁的儿童。每个孩子阅读一份由6个普通话音素的双音节词组成的言语材料清单，并录制言语样本。将数字化的声学录音提交进行声学分析。本研究中的声学参数包括/a/、/i/和/u/的第一和第二共振峰频率（F1和F2）以及元音空间。我们使用Wilcoxon秩和检验和Spearman秩相关检验进行统计分析。
通过Wilcoxon秩和检验，男孩元音/i/的F1值显著低于女孩（p = 0.013）。元音/i/的F1值与儿童年龄呈负相关（rho = -0.601，p = 0.003），与身高呈负相关（rho = 0.478，p = 0.045）。其他两个元音（/u/和/a/）的F1值、所有三个元音的F2值以及元音空间与年龄和性别均无关联。
说普通话儿童元音发音的F1声学参数存在发育和性别差异。本研究数据为说普通话儿童的声学评估提供了参考。
