Acoustic Characteristics Of Consonants In Children With Ankyloglossia And Speech Disorders

Objective: This study aims to investigate the acoustic characteristics of Mandarin speech in children with ankyloglossia and speech disorders,as there is currently a lack of research in this area.Using same-aged typically developing children as a control group,the study will compare the acoustic features of the three positions of Mandarin fricative sounds(alveolar,palatal-alveolar,and retroflex)to analyze the consonant acoustic characteristics of children with ankyloglossia and speech disorders,and determine whether they can produce speech patterns similar to those of typically developing children.Methods: 17 children(aged 4-6 years)with complaints of ankyloglossia and speech disorders from January 2021 to October 2022 at the Department of Dentistry,Yang Zhou University Hospital were included as the experimental group,and 17 healthy children of the same age group with normal tongue and speech were included as the control group.The same dentist measured the length of the frenum linguae,mouth opening,tongue extension,elevation,left and right oscillatory movements,and tongue tip shape during extension from all study participants.A simplified HATIFF scoring system was used to assess the functional movement of the tongue,and based on the functional and anatomical structure of the tongue,we determined whether children have ankyloglossia or not.Subsequently,a manual scoring method was used to assess whether the study subjects had speech disorders,using the Likert five-point scale as a tool.All subjects were recorded in a quiet environment using a standard Mandarin leader and acoustic parameters(center of gravity,consonant intensity,consonant F2 frequency,consonant duration)were obtained by Praat software.This study compared the acoustic parameters of children with ankyloglossia and speech disorders with those of normal children of the same age to analyze the consonant acoustic characteristics of the former,and determine whether they could distinguish the three pronunciation positions of the tongue when producing Mandarin fricative sounds,and whether their speech patterns were similar to those of normal children of the same age.Results:1.The results of the artificial speech intelligibility rating showed that the consonant intelligibility of the children with ankyloglossia and speech disorders recruited in this experiment was significantly lower than that of the control group(p<0.05).2.In the experimental group,consonant centers of gravity of alveolar and retroflex were higher than those of the control group,and the differences were statistically significant(p < 0.05);in the control group,the centers of gravity of alveolar-palatal vowels were higher than those of alveolar and retroflex(p < 0.05),while there was no differential change among the three articulatory positions of the experimental group(p > 0.05).3.The consonant intensity of alveolar,alveolo-palatal and retroflex in the experimental group was lower than that of the control group,and the differences were statistically significant(p < 0.05);the consonant intensity of retroflex was significantly different from that of the alveolar and alveolo-palatal in the control group(p < 0.05),while there was no significant difference between the three articulatory sites in the experimental group.4.In the experimental group,the consonant F2 frequency of the alveolar,retroflex and alveolar-palatal vowels were lower than those of the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(p<0.05);the consonant F2 frequency of the retroflex was higher than that of the alveolar vowels in the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(p < 0.05).In contrast,there was no significant difference in consonant F2 frequency between the alveolar,retroflex and alveolarpalatal in the experimental group(p > 0.05).5.The consonant duration of the alveolar consonant /c/ in the experimental group was shorter than that in the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(p < 0.05);there was no significant difference in the duration of consonant between the experimental and control groups at the three articulatory sites of the alveolar consonant/z/,retroflex and alveolar-palatal(p > 0.05).Conclusion: Through the study of children with ankyloglossia and speech disorders,this research found that their speech intelligibility was significantly lower than that of normal children of the same age,and there were also significant differences in some acoustic features.Normal children of the same age can distinguish the three articulation positions of Mandarin fricative sounds,and there are significant differences in acoustic parameters between the three positions.Children with ankyloglossia and speech disorders could not achieve age-matched speech patterns.Their acoustic parameters did not change with the position of pronunciation,and they could not accurately distinguish the three positions of pronunciation,resulting in a different speech pattern from normal children.The acoustic features of children with ankyloglossia and speech disorders can help doctors to improve preoperative evaluation,supplement rehabilitation standards,and provide quantifiable and easily comparable indicators in clinical practice.