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Consonant confusions in amplitude-expanded speech

R L Freyman1, G P Nerbonne

  • 1Department of Communication Disorder, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA.

Journal of Speech and Hearing Research
|December 1, 1996
PubMed
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Amplitude expansion of speech significantly impairs consonant recognition, even when audibility is maintained. These findings highlight the critical role of natural amplitude envelopes in speech perception.

Area of Science:

  • Audiology
  • Speech Perception
  • Psychoacoustics

Background:

  • Speech perception relies on both spectral and temporal cues.
  • Amplitude variations (envelope) are crucial for speech intelligibility.
  • Understanding how amplitude expansion affects speech processing is important for hearing aid technology.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the perceptual impact of amplitude expansion on speech.
  • To determine if spectral obscuration and amplitude expansion interact to affect consonant recognition.
  • To differentiate the effects of amplitude expansion from audibility changes.

Main Methods:

  • Speech stimuli (vowel-consonant-vowel nonsense words) were masked with signal-correlated noise.
  • Amplitude expansion was applied to speech signals by a factor of 3.0 dB.

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  • Consonant recognition was tested in 50 normal-hearing listeners across varying signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) and presentation levels.

    • Main Results:

    • Amplitude-expanded speech resulted in up to 30% poorer consonant recognition compared to unexpanded speech.
    • Error patterns differed significantly between expanded and unexpanded speech, especially at mid-range SNRs.
    • Equivalent recognition performance was observed for unexpanded speech at 40 dB SPL and expanded speech at 80 dB SPL, suggesting amplitude envelope changes were the primary factor.

    Conclusions:

    • Amplitude expansion of speech significantly degrades consonant recognition.
    • The detrimental effects of amplitude expansion are not solely due to reduced audibility.
    • Preserving natural amplitude envelopes is critical for effective speech perception.