Nasality evaluation of Turkish phonemes in vowel-consonant combinations

Objectives

The purpose of this study is to find average nasalance values of Turkish syllables with the nasometer.

Methods

This study is done at Hacettepe University Department of Otolaryngology Audiology and Speech Pathology Unit with 50 participating children.

Results

The normative nasalance values of Turkish phonemes are determined. It is found that nasalance scores of syllables that is combined with/i/phoneme is statistically have higher nasalance scores than/a/and/e/phonemes (p < 0.05). There is no difference find statistically between age and nasalance value (p > 0.05). Statistical difference between age and nasalance score is found in “iki, ?e, e?e, i?i, aç, eç, çi, içi, iç, al, yi, iy, iyi, yiy, ana, ne” syllables (p < 0.05). These phonemes have positive relation with the age. There is no statistical difference between sex and nasalance scores (p < 0.05). Statistical difference is only found in “tat- te- li- lil- aya” syllables (p < 0.05). On these phonemes it is found that girls have higher nasalance score than boys.

Conclusion

As a result, it is thought that gathered nasalance values of Turkish phonemes will be useful for resonance disorder diagnosis and follow ups on treatment.