Acoustic Reflections of Vocal Adjustments Elicited With a Standard Reading Passage: Effect of Voice Disorders

Our findings suggested that emotionally expressive speech while reading the passage was accomplished through both source (<i>f</i>_o) and filter (<i>F</i>4, FD) adjustments, with distinct strategies for mimicking the bear characters. Participants with voice disorders showed limitations in pitch modulations, with relatively preserved flexibility for vocal tract modifications. Their significantly larger FD and higher <i>F</i>4 could reflect compensatory vocal tract adjustments including epilarynx tube narrowing and elevated laryngeal positioning. Future studies should incorporate auditory-perceptual, articulatory and imaging measures to better examine the source and filter adjustments and to further validate the passage as a clinical tool for voice assessment and therapy.