Ultrasound analysis of tongue contour for the sound [j] in adults and children

ABSTRACT

Purpose

Analyze and compare the mean tongue contours and articulatory gestures in the production of the sound [j] in adults and children with typical and atypical speech development. The children with atypical development presented speech sound disorders.

Methods

The diagnosis was determined by speech assessments. The study sample was composed of 90 individuals divided into three groups: 30 adults with typical speech development aged 19-44 years (AT), 30 children with typical speech development (CT), and 30 children with speech sound disorders, named as atypical in this study, aged four years to eight years and eleven months (CA). Ultrasonography assessment of tongue movements was performed for all groups. Mean tongue contours were compared between three groups in different vocalic contexts following the sound [j]. The maximum elevation of the tongue tip was considered for delimitation of gestures using the Articulate Assistant Advanced (AAA) software and images in sagittal plane/Mode B. The points that intercepted the language curves were analyzed by the statistical tool R. The graphs of tongue contours were obtained adopting a 95% confidence interval. After that, the regions with significant statistical differences (p<0.05) between the CT and CA groups were obtained.

Results

The mean tongue contours demonstrated the gesture for the sound [j] in the comparison between typical and atypical children. For the semivowel [j], there is an articulatory gesture of tongue and dorsum towards the center of ​​the hard palate, with significant differences observed between the children.

Conclusion

The results showed differences between the groups of children regarding the ability to refine articulatory gestures.

Keywords
Speech; Speech Acoustics; Ultrasonics; Adult; Children; Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences