Contributions of lexical tone to Mandarin sentence recognition in hearing-impaired listeners under noisy conditions

Nan Li; Shuo Wang; Xianhui Wang; Li Xu

doi:10.1121/1.5120543

Contributions of lexical tone to Mandarin sentence recognition in hearing-impaired listeners under noisy conditions

J Acoust Soc Am. 2019 Aug;146(2):EL99. doi: 10.1121/1.5120543.

Authors

Nan Li¹, Shuo Wang¹, Xianhui Wang², Li Xu²

Affiliations

¹ Beijing Tongren Hospital, Beijing Institute of Otolaryngology, Capital Medical University, Beijing, Chinanl1m18@soton.ac.uk, shannonwsh@aliyun.com.
² Communication Sciences and Disorders, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USAxw659217@ohio.edu, xul@ohio.edu.

Abstract

Mandarin sentence recognition using natural-tone and flat-tone sentences was tested in 22 subjects with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and 25 listeners with normal hearing (NH) in quiet, speech-shaped noise, and two-talker-babble conditions. While little effects of flat tones on sentence recognition were seen in the NH listeners when the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was ≥0 dB, the SNHL listeners showed decreases in flat-tone-sentence recognition in quiet and at +5-dB SNR. Such declined performance was correlated with their degrees of hearing loss. Lexical tone contributes greatly to sentence recognition in hearing-impaired listeners in both quiet and in noise listening conditions.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Asian People
Female
Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / physiopathology*
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Noise
Phonetics*
Signal-To-Noise Ratio
Speech Perception*

Grants and funding

R15 DC014587/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/United States