Articulatory kinematics during connected speech across dialects and dysarthria

Abstract

The current work presents an analysis of articulatory kinematics during connected speech in typical talkers and talkers with dysarthria from two different dialects of American English. Instrumental methods for obtaining articulatory kinematic data during speech (particularly electromagnetic articulography) are becoming increasingly viable within the clinical setting. Yet almost no existing clinical standards for collecting and interpreting articulatory kinematic data have been established. Moreover, there is little basis for differentiating the impact of dialect from dysarthria on articulatory kinematics. We examine articulatory kinematics obtained via electromagnetic articulography during a standard connected speech passage read by typical talkers (n = 30) and talkers with dysarthria (n = 15). Participants are divided among upper Midwestern and Southern American English dialects. Analyses focus on kinematic measures of articulatory movement (range-of-motion, speed, acceleration, and jerk) within and across dialect groups and between typical talkers and individuals with dysarthria. The goal of the current work is to provide a preliminary evaluation of whether different kinematic measures of articulatory movement during connected speech may be differentially sensitive to the impact of dialect and dysarthria. The results of this work are germane to establishing clinically relevant measures of articulatory kinematics to improve the clinical assessment of dysarthria.