Perception of syllable stress in esophageal speech.

This study is part of a larger investigation designed to assess the ability of esophageal speakers to effect systematic changes in listener perceptions of syllable stress. Ten male functional esophageal speakers and ten normal speakers were instructed to produce 25 repetitions of the disyllable/mama/ using five different conditions of syllable stress, ranging from strong first syllable stress through strong second syllable stress. Nine normal listeners judged both relative and absolute syllable stress of the disyllables, using a nine-point scale for each syllable. The results indicated that highly reliable judgments can be made when judging relative and absolute syllable stress in disyllables produced by both normal and esophageal speakers. In response to experimenter direction, both normal and esophageal speakers are able to effect systematic changes of direction and degree in listener perceptions of relative stress.