Law Thomas, Packman Ann, Onslow Mark, To Carol K-S, Tong Michael C-F, Lee Kathy Y-S
a The Australian Stuttering Research Centre , The University of Sydney , Sydney , Australia.
b Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery , The Chinese University of Hong Kong , NT , Hong Kong SAR.
Clin Linguist Phon. 2018;32(10):932-949. doi: 10.1080/02699206.2018.1480655. Epub 2018 Jun 6.
Speaking rhythmically, also known as syllable-timed speech (STS), has been known for centuries to be a fluency-inducing condition for people who stutter. Cantonese is a tonal syllable-timed language and it has been shown that, of all languages, Cantonese is the most rhythmic (Mok, 2009). However, it is not known if STS reduces stuttering in Cantonese as it does in English. This is the first study to investigate the effects of STS on stuttering in a syllable-timed language. Nineteen native Cantonese-speaking adults who stutter were engaged in conversational tasks in Cantonese under two conditions: one in their usual speaking style and one using STS. The speakers' percentage syllables stuttered (%SS) and speech rhythmicity were rated. The rhythmicity ratings were used to estimate the extent to which speakers were using STS in the syllable-timed condition. Results revealed a statistically significant reduction in %SS in the STS condition; however, this reduction was not as large as in previous studies in other languages and the amount of stuttering reduction varied across speakers. The rhythmicity ratings showed that some speakers were perceived to be speaking more rhythmically than others and that the perceived rhythmicity correlated positively with reductions in stuttering. The findings were unexpected, as it was anticipated that speakers of a highly rhythmic language such as Cantonese would find STS easy to use and that the consequent reductions in stuttering would be great, even greater perhaps than in a stress-timed language such as English. The theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.
有节奏地说话，也称为音节计时言语（STS），几个世纪以来一直被认为是一种能让口吃者流畅表达的状态。粤语是一种有声调的音节计时语言，并且已经表明，在所有语言中，粤语是最有节奏感的（莫克，2009）。然而，尚不清楚音节计时言语是否像在英语中那样能减少粤语中的口吃现象。这是第一项研究音节计时语言中音节计时言语对口吃影响的研究。19名以粤语为母语的口吃成年人在两种情况下用粤语进行对话任务：一种是他们平常的说话方式，另一种是使用音节计时言语。对口吃者的音节口吃百分比（%SS）和言语节奏感进行了评分。节奏感评分用于估计在音节计时条件下说话者使用音节计时言语的程度。结果显示，在音节计时言语条件下，%SS有统计学上的显著降低；然而，这种降低不如之前其他语言的研究中那么大，而且口吃减少的程度因说话者而异。节奏感评分表明，一些说话者被认为比其他说话者更有节奏感，并且感知到的节奏感与口吃的减少呈正相关。这些发现出乎意料，因为预计像粤语这样节奏感很强的语言的使用者会发现音节计时言语很容易使用，并且由此导致的口吃减少会很大，甚至可能比像英语这样的重音计时语言更大。讨论了这些发现的理论和临床意义。
