Abstract
Objective
The aims of this study were to examine nasalance score variation for normal adult Japanese speakers of Mid-West dialect and the gender difference in average mean nasalance score.
Design
Nasalance scores were obtained using a nasometer model 6200. The sample stimulus “Kitsutsuki passage,” constructed of four sentences containing no Japanese nasal sounds, was used three times by each subject.
Participants
One hundred normal adult speakers (50 women and 50 men) of Japanese served as subjects. The subjects ranged in age from 19 to 35 years of age (24.0 ± 3.2).
Main Outcome Measure
A mean nasalance score as well as an overall average nasalance value across speakers was calculated for each subject. The average mean nasalance scores between men and women were compared.
Results
The average mean nasalance score for the normal Japanese speakers was 9.1% (± 3.9). There was no statistically significant sex difference (p < .01). Average mean scores of 9.8% (± 3.5) and 8.3% (± 4.0) were obtained for the female and male speakers, respectively.
Conclusions
The results provide important information concerning criteria to evaluate hypernasal speech due to velopharyngeal inadequacy of Japanese speakers with cleft palate using the nasometer.
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