An electropalatographic (EPG) study of the speech of two stuttering subjects

Two stuttering subjects and two control subjects were used in a comparative pilot study using EPG. The subjects read twenty sentences and repeated three words, 'a deer', 'a clock' and 'a kitkat', ten times. These data allowed three main methods of EPG analysis: variability measures on the three words in isolation; qualitative comparison between stuttering and control speakers' production of perceptually fluent speech and analysis of specific disfluencies. Results showed that compared to control speakers the stuttering subjects displayed increased contacts for fluent alveolar and velar plosives and fricative undershoot. They also showed less temporal variability for velar stop articulations. The results suggest that EPG is a useful technique in the analysis of articulatory characteristics of stuttering behaviour.