A comparative study of stress timing of stutterers and nonstutterers

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to provide a preliminary description and comparison of the temporal parameters of fluent speech production of adult stutterers and nonstutterers as represented within the electroglottographic and acoustic waveform. Subjects were 12 male stutterers (mean age = 30 years, 3 months) and a like number of male age-matched normally fluent spakers (mean age = 30 years, 2 months). Measured durational variables consisted of stopgap duration and voice onset time (VOT) during stressed and unstressed syllables near the end of metronome-timed syllabic utterances. Results indicated that VOT but not stopgap duration was significantly different between the groups. Correlational analyses indicated that for stressed productions a significant negative relation between stopgap duration and VOT existed among the nonstutterers. Stutterers did not demonstrate a clear reciprocal relationship between these durational variables in either speech context. The findings of a protracted VOT and the absence of a “reciprocal” relationship between stopgap duration and VOT among stutterers seem to reflect a failure to achieve coordinated timing between supralaryngeal and laryngeal movements necessary for smooth ongoing fluent speech production.