Effects of Word Recognition Score as a Function of Consonant-to-Vowel
Ratio (CVR) in Korean Non-sense Syllables

Lee, So Ye; Lee, Kyoung Won

doi:2010.6.1.25

Audiol > Volume 6(1); 2010 > Article

Research Paper

Audiology 2010;6(1): 25-29.
Published online: June 30, 2010.
doi: http://doi.org/10.21848/audiol.2010.6.1.25

한국어의 자모음비(CVR)에 따른 무의미음절의 단어인지도 변화

이소예¹, 이경원²

¹가야대학교 언어치료청각학과
²한림국제대학원대학교 청각학과

Effects of Word Recognition Score as a Function of Consonant-to-Vowel Ratio (CVR) in Korean Non-sense Syllables

So Ye Lee¹, Kyoung Won Lee²

¹Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Kaya University, Gyeongnam, Korea
²Department of Audiology, Hallym University of Graduate Studies, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence

Kyoung Won Lee ,Tel: (02) 2051-4951, Fax: (02) 3453-6618, Email: leekw@hallym.ac.kr

Received: April 30, 2010; Revised: June 7, 2010 Accepted: June 14, 2010. Published online: June 30, 2010.

ABSTRACT

Non-linear amplification may increase intensity of consonants through improvement of consonants-to-vowel ratio (CVR). In this study, we evaluated the effects of word recognition scores for nonsense consonant-vowel (CV) syllables as a function of CVR. Twenty adults (32 ears) with sensorineural hearing loss participated and five consonants (/s/, /tɕh/, /kh/, /th/, /ph/) and three vowels (/u/, /a/, /i/) were used in this study. CV syllables were recorded by male and female talkers and combined with speech noise at 5 different CVR (0, 3, 6, 9, 12 dB). Randomized list of 150 nonsense CV syllables was presented to the participants at the most comfortable level. As a results, no significant differences were observed between the male and the female talkers in nonsense syllables recognition at all CVR. However, results indicated that audibility of consonants improved when CVR increased up to 6 dB or more. Error analysis demonstrated that substitution errors were the most frequently made in word-initial position and vowels. These findings provide meaningful information about auditory rehabilitation for the Korean hearing impaired and also help audiologists to make an effective decision on the compression threshold, compression ratio, and attack and release time of non-linear hearing aids.

Key Words: Consonant·Consonant-to-vowel ratio (CVR)·Non-sense syllable·Vowel.

중심단어: 모음· 무의미음절· 자모음비· 자음.