Acoustic-articulatory analysis of plosives sounds: a case study in T21

Abstract

The general objective of the research that resulted in this dissertation was to analyze acoustic characteristics of the occlusive segments /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/ and /g/ of Brazilian Portuguese, produced by a person with oromyofunctional alterations, aiming to verify how the vocal tract specificities and the motor characteristics of speech production, presented by a subject with Down syndrome, can interfere in the acoustic characteristics of the occlusive segments produced by him. The hypothesis is that the variations impact the acoustic characteristics of the stops produced by this subject. It is believed that the individual's global hypotonia compromises oral motor control and planning and that this leads to the inadequate production of these consonants, which, consequently, alters the acoustic characteristics of such segments. In the study, stop consonants produced by a subject with Down syndrome, henceforth SE, were acoustically analysed. This is an 18-year-old female resident of Vitória da Conquista. 64 words were selected for data collection, containing voiceless and voiced stop (billabial, alveolar and velar) in initial onset and medial onset, in the context of the vowel [a]. For the acoustic analysis, the relative duration and the 04 (four) spectral moments of the occlusive segments were measured using the PRAAT (BOERSMA; WEENINCK, 2006).