ASHAWire
Advanced search
Skip main navigation
Close Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
No AccessJournal of Speech, Language, and Hearing ResearchResearch Article1 Aug 1991

A Study of Nasometric Values for Normal Nasal Resonance

    • Earl J. Seaver
      • ,
    • Roger M. Dalston
      • ,
    • Herbert A. Leeper
      • ,
    • Larry E. Adams
      • , Department of Communicative Disorders Northern Illinois UniversityOral-Facial and Communicative Disorders Program Department of Surgery, Dental Ecology and Research Center, School of Medicine University of North Carolina at Chapel HillDepartment of Communicative Disorders University of Western OntarioDepartment of Biocommunication School of Medicine and Dentistry University of Alabama at Birmingham
    https://doi.org/10.1044/jshr.3404.715

    It was the purpose of this study to obtain nasalance values for a large number of normal adult subjects speaking a variety of dialects of English. The Nasometer was used to measure the amount of nasal acoustic energy in the speech of 148 normal adults from four geographical regions of North America. Means and standard deviations for the nasalance and deviation scores are presented for each of three different reading passages. The Mid-Atlantic speakers were found to have significantly higher nasalance scores on all three reading passages. In addition, the female subjects had significantly higher nasalance scores on the Nasal Sentences. These differences are discussed with regard to potential reasons for their existence implications for understanding velopharyngeal function in normal and abnormal speakers.

    References

    • Dalston, R. M. (1989). Using simultaneous photodetection and nasometry to monitor velopharyngeal behavior during speech.Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 32, 195–202.
      LinkGoogle Scholar
    • Dalston, R. M., & Seaver, E. J. (1990). Nasometric and phototransductive measurements of reaction times among normal adult speakers.Cleft Palate Journal, 27, 61–67.
      CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar
    • Dalston, R. M., Warren, D., & Dalston, E. (1990a). The identification of nasal obstruction through clinical judgments of hyponasality and nasometric assessment of speech acoustics.American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics. In press.
      Google Scholar
    • Dalston, R. M., Warren, D., & Dalston, E. (1990b). The use of nasometry as a diagnostic tool for identifying patients with velopharyngeal impairments.Cleft Palate Journal. In press.
      Google Scholar
    • Dalston, R. M., Warren, D., & Dalston, E. (1991). A preliminary investigation concerning the use of nasometry in identifying patients with hyponasality and/or nasal airway impairment.Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 34, 11–18.
      LinkGoogle Scholar
    • Flege, J. E. (1988). Anticipatory and carry-over nasal coarticulation in the speech of children and adults.Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 31, 525–536.
      AbstractGoogle Scholar
    • Fletcher, S. G. (1978). Diagnosing speech disorder from cleft palate. New York: Grune & Stratton.
      Google Scholar
    • Hutchinson, J. M., Robinson, K. L., & Nerbonne, M. A. (1978). Patterns of nasalance in a sample of normal gerontologic subjects.Journal of Communication Disorders, 11, 469–481.
      CrossrefGoogle Scholar
    • Kuehn, D. P., & Dalston, R. M. (1989). Cleft palate and studies related to velopharyngeal function.In H. Winitz (Ed.), Human communication and its disorders (pp. 1–106). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
      Google Scholar
    • Litzaw, L. L., & Dalston, R. D. (1990, November). Nasal area differences across gender and its impact on nasalance scores. Paper presented to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Annual Convention, Seattle, WA.
      Google Scholar
    • Schneider, E., & Shprintzen, R. J. (1980). A survey of speech pathologists: Current trends in the diagnosis and management of velopharyngeal insufficiency.Cleft Palate Journal, 17, 249–253.
      Google Scholar
    • Seaver, E. J., & Dalston, R. M. (1990). Using simultaneous nasometry and standard audio recordings to detect the acoustic onsets and offsets of speech.Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 33, 358–362.
      Google Scholar
    • Sherman, D., & Goodwin, F. (1954). Pitch level and nasality.Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 19, 423–428.
      LinkGoogle Scholar
    • Thompson, A. E., & Hixon, T. J. (1979). Nasal air flow during normal speech production.Cleft Palate Journal, 16, 412–420.
      MedlineGoogle Scholar
    • Wilkinson, L. (1988). SYSTAT: The system for statistics. Evanston, IL: SYSTAT, Inc.
      Google Scholar

    Additional Resources