A Comparative Acoustic Study of Normal, Esophageal, and Tracheoesophageal Speech Production

Acoustic characteristics of two types of alaryngeal speech were quantified and compared to normal speech production. High-quality audio recordings were obtained from 15 subjects who had undergone the tracheoesophageal puncture method of postlaryngectomy vocal rehabilitation (Singer & Blom, 1980), 15 esophageal speakers, and 15 laryngeal talkers as they sustained the vowel /alpha/ and read a standard paragraph. Ten frequency, 7 intensity, and 13 duration variables were quantified. Central tendency and variability measures of frequency and duration for the three speaker groups indicated that tracheoesophageal speech is more similar to normal speech than is esophageal speech. Intensity measures indicated that tracheoesophageal speech is more intense than normal and esophageal speech.