Effects of transitory lingual nerve impairment on speech: An acoustic study of vowel sounds

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of the lingual nerve impairment on phonetic quality of speech by analyzing the main acoustic features of vowel sounds when the normal lingual nerve function was partly distorted by local anesthesia. Patients and Methods: The study group consisted of 7 men, whose right side lingual nerve was anesthetized with 0.8 mL of Ultracain D-Suprarenin (Aventis Pharma Deutschland GmpH, Frankfurt am Main, Germany). The speech material analyzed consisted of 8 vowels produced in sentence context by speakers. Every utterance was repeated 10 times with and without local anesthesia. After recording, the speech samples were analyzed with a computerized speech laboratory. In addition, the vowels of 1 man with permanent nerve impairment were studied. Results: The results show that the deprived function of the tongue after lingual nerve impairment had various effects on vowel quality for every subject. The main acoustic determinants of different vowels, the lowest vocal tract resonances, changed in frequency. In addition, the total duration of vowels changed and the vowels had different fundamental frequencies. However, these effects were extremely individual and variable. Conclusions: According to the results of acoustic analysis, the distortion of lingual nerve function has effects on vowel production. Some of these changes were so extensive that they also could be perceptually detectable. Lingual nerve impairment seems to have potential to change speech production. © 2002 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons J Oral Maxillofac Surg 60:647-652, 2002