Center for Pre-Speech Development and Developmental Disorders, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Folia Phoniatr Logop. 2023;75(3):177-187. doi: 10.1159/000528732. Epub 2022 Dec 20.
The fundamental frequency contour (melody) of cry and non-cry utterances becomes more complex with age. However, there is a lack of longitudinal analyses of melody development during the first year of life.
The aim of the study was to longitudinally analyze melody development in typical vocalization types across the first 12 months of life. The aim was twofold: (1) to answer the question whether melody becomes more complex in all vocalization types with age and (2) to characterize complex patterns in more detail.
Repeatedly recorded vocalizations (n = 10,988) of 10 healthy infants (6 female) over their first year of life were analyzed using frequency spectrograms and fundamental frequency (f0) analyses (PRAAT). Melody complexity analysis was performed using specific in-lab software (CDAP, pw-project) in a final subset of 9,237 utterances that contained noise-free, undisturbed contours. Generalized mixed linear models were used to analyze age and vocalization type effects on melody complexity.
The vocalization repertoire showed a higher proportion of complex melodies from the second month onward. The age effect was significant, but no difference was found in melody complexity between cry and non-cry vocalizations across the first 6 months. From month 7-12, there was a further significant increase in complex structures only in canonical babbling not in marginal babbling. Melody segmentations by laryngeal constrictions prevailed among complex shapes.
The study demonstrated the regularity of melody development in different vocalization types throughout the first year of life. In terms of prosodic features of infant sounds, melody contour is of primary importance, and further studies are required that also include infants at risk for language development.
哭声和非哭声的基频轮廓（旋律）随着年龄的增长而变得更加复杂。然而，目前缺乏对生命第一年旋律发展的纵向分析。
本研究旨在对典型发声类型在生命头 12 个月内的旋律发展进行纵向分析。目的有两个：（1）回答所有发声类型的旋律是否随年龄变得更加复杂的问题；（2）更详细地描述复杂模式。
使用频率频谱图和基频（f0）分析（Praat），对 10 名健康婴儿（6 名女性）的反复录制的声音（n=10988）进行分析。使用特定的实验室软件（CDAP、pw-project）对 9237 个无噪声、未受干扰的轮廓的发声进行了旋律复杂性分析。使用广义混合线性模型分析年龄和发声类型对旋律复杂性的影响。
发声 repertoire 从第二个月开始呈现出更高比例的复杂旋律。年龄效应显著，但在生命的前 6 个月，哭声和非哭声发声之间的旋律复杂性没有差异。从第 7 个月到第 12 个月，只有在规范的咿呀学语中，而不是在边缘的咿呀学语中，复杂结构才会进一步显著增加。复杂形状中以声带收缩为主的旋律分段。
本研究表明，在生命的第一年中，不同发声类型的旋律发展具有规律性。就婴儿声音的韵律特征而言，旋律轮廓是主要的，需要进一步的研究，包括有语言发育风险的婴儿。
