Comparative Analysis of the Temporal Aspects of Word-Final Disfluencies, Stuttering-Like Disfluencies, and Nonstuttering-Like Disfluencies

Abstract

Purpose: Repetitions at the end of words, known as word-final disfluencies (WFDs), have long been documented in the speech of individuals with and without other communication disorders. Although these disfluencies are often compared to repetitions at the beginning of words observed in stuttering, it has been suggested that WFDs differ from stuttering in their salient features. WFDs have been observed to present more as nonstuttering-like disfluencies (NSLDs; interjections, phrase repetitions, revisions) than as stuttering-like disfluencies (SLDs) in terms of tension and the individual's awareness of their disfluencies. An acoustic comparison of the different types of disfluency has not yet been explored. The purpose of this study was to compare the durational characteristics of repetitions in individuals with WFDs to those in individuals who exhibit SLDs and NSLDs. Method: Speech samples from three school-age boys who presented with WFDs, three school-age boys who stutter, and three preschool-age boys who presented with NSLDs often seen in normal language development were recorded and analyzed. The silent duration between the parent word and the repetition unit of each participant's disfluencies were measured using acoustic analysis software and compared across groups. Results: Results indicated that the silent duration between the word and the repeated segment of the disfluencies produced by each group was significantly different from each other. Conclusion: Descriptively, the silent duration of WFDs was closer to that of NSLDs than to that of SLDs, suggesting that WFDs may be more closely related to the disfluencies of developing language than to those of stuttering.