Abstract:
Syllable level organization has been evidenced in the articulatory movement patterns in different languages [C. P. Browman and L. Goldstein, Producing Speech: Contemporary Issues, 19--34 (1995); R. A. Krakow, ``The articulatory organization of syllables: A kinematic analysis of labial and velar gestures,'' Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University (1989); Q. E. Wang, ``Are syllables units of speech motor organization?---A kinematic analysis of labial and velar gestures in Cantonese,'' Ph.D. dissertation, University of Connecticut (1995)]. This study analyzed speech samples produced by nondemented individuals with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (Hoehn and Yahr stage 2--3) who underwent posteroventral pallidotomy. The data were collected with the patients on and off their medications as well as pre- and post-operatively. The preliminary results indicated that the patients were able to produce stimuli with syllable-initial nasals with less difficulty than those containing syllable-final nasals, and as the patients' motor performance improved, their ability to produce the stimuli with syllable-final nasals also improved. This may suggest that the speech motor programming and execution are different for the phonemically identical phonemes in syllable-initial and syllable-final positions. [Work supported by Rush University and NIH Grant DC-00121 to the Haskins Laboratories.]