Acoustic phonetic examination of speech from subjects with late primary palate repair

Velopharyngeal insufficiency, an important feature in cleft lip and palate (CLP), bears a heavy weight on the (un)intelligibility of speech signals. Standard instruments for phoneticians include facilities for acoustic analyses and others. This paper presents preliminary, non-quantitative, results from the examination of preand postsurgery speech samples by CLP patients. The study focused on one sentence type and, in particular, on the production of voiceless stops and the vowel [a]. Our observations show that acoustic cues provide useful information about aspects of the tokens whose qualities improve, whether this be evident or not from an impressionist standpoint. Suggestions are forwarded about the possibility of using these and other phonetic tools to enhance diagnostics and treatment of CLP.