Compensation in Time and Space: Prominence Marking in Aging and Disease

Tabea Thies,Anne Hermes,Doris Mücke

doi:10.3390/languages7010021

Abstract

This study aims to explore the effects of healthy aging and Parkinson’s disease on speech motor performance. One area of speech production which requires fine speech motor control is prominence marking. Therefore, strategies of prominence marking of three speaker groups with four speakers each were investigated: younger speakers, older speakers, and speakers with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Acoustic and articulatory data were collected. Speech data were analyzed focusing on prominence-related adjustments of vowel production and tongue body movements in the temporal and spatial domain. Longer durations, varying initiation of the tongue movements and smaller vowel sizes in older speakers and in speakers with PD were found compared to younger speakers. The data indicate further that all speaker groups mark prominence by changing relevant parameters in the vowel articulation; however, strategies seem to differ between the groups: (i) in the temporal domain, articulatory movement durations increase with age and are further prolonged in speakers with PD; (ii) in the spatial domain, the articulation space is resized by the older speakers in a non-symmetrical way, while no systematic vocalic modulations were found for speakers with PD. To conclude, the speech system seems to be affected by age and disease, but speakers develop compensatory strategies to counteract influences in the spatial domain.

Highlights

IntroductionProsodic highlighting involves categorical and gradient changes in intonation and articulation, while on the intonational level, pitch accent placement and pitch modulation are important factors (Sluijter and van Heuven 1995; Grice et al 2005)
As the process of prosodic prominence marking requires fine speech motor control as well as sufficient cognitive skills, this study explores the role of prosodic modifications related to aging on the one hand and Parkinson’s disease (PD) on the other
All speaker groups mark prominence in the temporal and spatial domain; they seem to differ in the way how they modulate prominence to highlight important information on the textual string

Summary

Introduction

Prosodic highlighting involves categorical and gradient changes in intonation and articulation, while on the intonational level, pitch accent placement and pitch modulation are important factors (Sluijter and van Heuven 1995; Grice et al 2005). Temporal and spatial changes in the oral vocal tract are related to the segmental level of consonant and vowel production that can increase sonority features and paradigmatic contrasts in prominent syllables (De Jong 1995; Beckman et al 1992). Prosodic prominence is a complex process that requires fine speech motor control. The ability to mark prominence in terms of fine modulations of the laryngeal and supra-laryngeal system may decrease due to the impact of aging or diseases as physiological and/or mental changes can be involved (Thies et al 2020; Karlsson and Hartelius 2021).

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