PERTURBATION AND HOARSENESS - A PILOT-STUDY OF 6 CHILDRENS VOICES

Fundamental frequency (F0) perturbation has been found to be useful as an acoustic correlate of the perception of dysphonia in adult voices. In a previous investigation, we showed that hoarseness in children's voices is a stable concept composed mainly of three predictors: hyperf unction, breathiness, and roughness. In the present investigation, the relation between F0 perturbation and hoarseness as well as its predic tors was analyzed in running speech of six children representing diffe rent degrees of hoarseness. Two perturbation measures were used: the s tandard deviation of the distribution of perturbation data and the mea n of the absolute value of perturbation. The results revealed no clear relation.