Method for Analyzing Perceptual Confusions of Consonant Phonemes

A method for analyzing listener's phonemic confusions of monosyllabic words was developed in order to determine the type as well as the number of consonant errors made in certain speech-intelligibility testing situations. This method, which deals exclusively with consonants, allows for the listeners' responses to be written in phonetics or traditional orthography. Therefore, it can be used with experienced listeners or with naïve listeners, which, in some cases, is desired or necessary. From the listeners' responses, the errors are grouped into simple consonant-for-consonant substitutions, substitutions involving consonant clusters, omissions, and additions. The results of the analyses are presented in terms of the percent correct for each phoneme relative to the total possible number of correct phonemes at a certain condition. In this way, the relative intelligibility of each phoneme may be obtained and compared with other phonemes in the same test or with the same phoneme in various testing situations. Preliminary data indicate that the reliability of transforming the orthographic responses to phonemes ranges from 87% to 93% Some results of the application of this procedure to the phonemic confusions of divers' speech at various depths and breathing mixtures are presented.