Influence of Voice Focus on Oral-Nasal Balance in Speakers of Brazilian Portuguese Article Swipe
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· 2016
· Open Access
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· DOI: https://doi.org/10.1159/000452245
· OA: W2560763919
<b><i>Objectives:</i></b> This study investigates whether a change in speaking voice focus affects the oral-nasal balance. The investigation was undertaken with different phonetic materials in speakers of Brazilian Portuguese, which features phonological and phonetic vowel nasalization. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Ten females read oral, balanced oral-nasal, and nasal loaded sentences in their normal voice, and with a backward focus and a forward focus. Nasalance scores were collected with a Nasometer 6400. <b><i>Results:</i></b> A repeated measures ANOVA of the nasalance scores demonstrated a significant main effect of speaking condition (<i>F</i>(2, 18) = 12.87, <i>p</i> < 0.001). The mean nasalance scores across the stimuli in the backward focus and normal speaking conditions were 36.85% (SD 16.85) and 40.18% (SD 18.02), respectively, both significantly lower than the forward focus condition at 45.38% (SD 18.90). <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> The results demonstrated that speaking focus influences oral-nasal balance in normal speakers. In future research, it should be investigated whether voice focus can also modify oral-nasal balance in hypernasal speakers with cleft palate and other disorders.
