Frequency of Apical and Laminal /s/ in Normal and Postglossectomy Patients

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Speech Science
• Audiology

Background:

• American English /s/ sounds can be produced using either apical (tongue tip up) or laminal (tongue blade up) tongue shapes.
• Postglossectomy patients, who undergo surgery involving tongue resection, may experience altered tongue control, particularly affecting the tongue tip due to denervation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of glossectomy on the production of apical versus laminal /s/ sounds.
• To determine if reduced tongue tip control in postglossectomy patients influences their /s/ sound production strategies.
• To examine the interplay between palate height and /s/ production in both control and postglossectomy populations.

Main Methods:

• Utilized cine-MRI and dental casts to analyze tongue shapes and palate height in 24 control participants and 13 postglossectomy patients.
• Categorized /s/ productions as either apical or laminal.
• Correlated acoustic and articulatory data with patient-specific anatomical measurements.

Main Results:

• Palate height was found to influence /s/ production in control participants.
• This effect of palate height on /s/ production was not observed in postglossectomy patients.
• Postglossectomy patients demonstrated a tendency to produce laminal /s/ sounds more frequently than controls.

Conclusions:

• Postglossectomy patients, even with preserved tongue tips, are more prone to using laminal /s/ shapes, likely due to compromised tongue tip control.
• The findings suggest that surgical alterations to the tongue can override the influence of anatomical factors like palate height on speech sound production.