Browsing by Subject "ääntöväylä"

Speech is a sum of a complicated, multifunctional neurological and motor action. By changing the articulatory setting, the resonance properties of the vocal tract change and a new sound is created. Speech can be described as a continuum of articulatory manoeuvre; each manoeuvre has its own function and they're added together to gain the target articulation. Ventriloquism is speech without visible speech manoeuvres. Previously only few studies about ventriloquism have been published. Studies have focused on articulation, expiratory air pressure, fundamental frequency, laryngeal action, perceptual voice quality and simulation of compensating sounds of a ventriloquist. This study wanted to find out about the articulatory strategies of ventriloquists. Nasality, fundamental frequency, duration and the actual ventriloquism as a speech technique were examined – the writer learned the art of ventriloquism during research. Results show higher fundamental frequency, more nasality and longer duration compared to normal speech. However, differences between the participants were found. We can also rename ventriloquism as velar speech technique by the results obtained from the study. The results show, that velar speech technique may have a potential rule in helping those with structurally disturbed articulators. e.g. oral and throat cancer patients during post-operative speech therapy.