Mandarin Chinese consonant production of patients with cleft palate

Abstract

Eighteen Mandarin Chinese consonants were recorded from 259 patients with cleft palate in a /CV/ context. The age of participants ranged from 8 to 40 years old. Participants had five types of cleft palate: submucous cleft palate, hard and soft cleft palate, unilateral complete cleft palate, bilateral complete cleft palate, and congenital velopharyngeal insufficiency. All consonants were transcribed by speech-language pathologists. Results showed that the accuracy of consonant production was significantly affected by the type of cleft palate, consonant category, and their interaction. The correctness of consonant production ranged from 45.8% for the type IV cleft palate (e.g., BCCP) to 71.5% for Submucous cleft palate. In particular, for the manner of articulation, nasals had significantly higher accuracy than stops, fricatives, and affricates, while for the place of articulation, palatal and labial sounds were problematic with low accuracy. In addition, the errors of consonant production, such as replacement, compensation, and omission, were also dependent on the type of cleft palate and consonant category and their interaction.