The influence of acoustic and perceptual factors on perceived hypernasality in the vowel [i]: A preliminary study

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of acoustic and perc eptual factors of speech on listeners' perceived hypernasality in the vowel [i]. The isolated syllable [pi] produced by 22 children with hypernasal sp eech and 6 noncleft children was rated by 10 listeners. These speech sample s were then divided into two groups: (1)the samples (n = 14) that received inconsistent ratings from each listener or variable ratings among listeners (i.e., unreliable ratings) and (2) the samples (n = 14) that received cons istent ratings from each listener and similar ratings among listeners (i.e. , reliable ratings). These results suggest that the severity of hypernasali ty was easy to rate in some speech samples and not in others. Voice quality deviation and a particular type of spectral change that related to the sev erity of hypernasality could be factors that influence perceived hypernasal ity.