Studies of Chinese speakers with dysarthria: informing theoretical models

Most theoretical models of dysarthria have been developed based on research using individuals speaking English or other Indo-European languages. Studies of individuals with dysarthria speaking other languages can allow investigation into the universality of such models, and the interplay between language-specific and language-universal aspects of dysarthria. In this article, studies of Cantonese- and Mandarin-Chinese speakers with dysarthria are reviewed. The studies focused on 2 groups of speakers: those with cerebral palsy and those with Parkinson's disease. Key findings are compared with similar studies of English speakers. Since Chinese is tonal in nature, the impact of dysarthria on lexical tone has received considerable attention in the literature. The relationship between tone [which involves fundamental frequency (F(0)) control at the syllable level] and intonation (involving F(0) control at the sentential level) has received more recent attention. Many findings for Chinese speakers with dysarthria support earlier findings for English speakers, thus affirming the language-universal aspect of dysarthria. However, certain differences, which can be attributed to the distinct phonologies of Cantonese and Mandarin, highlight the language-specific aspects of the condition.