Acoustic aspects of segmental and suprasegmental productions of Greek hearing-impaired speech: A qualitative analysis

Hearing-impaired speech presents a number of characteristics deviating from normal, which concern both the segmental level, i.e. vowel and consonant errors, and the suprasegmental level, i.e. stress, intonation, resonance, voice quality etc. Errors on both levels can compromise speech intelligibility, that is, the ability of being understood. The current paper presents a qualitative analysis of the main segmental and suprasegmental errors observed in the speech of 10 Greek adult speakers with profound prelingual hearing impairment and of various intelligibility levels. Audio files and/or spectrographic displays, useful to clinicians, teachers and researchers, are provided to illustrate the above features and to help clarify acoustic measurement issues pertaining to the acoustic analysis of hearing-impaired speech.
Selected papers on theoretical and applied linguistics, Vol 21 (2016): Selected Papers on Theoretical and Applied Linguistics from ISTAL, Thessaloniki 5-7 April 2013