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. 2008 Sep;22(5):553-64.
doi: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2006.12.009. Epub 2007 May 23.

Vibratory regime classification of infant phonation

Eugene H Buder  1 , Lesya B Chorna, D Kimbrough Oller, Rebecca B Robinson
Affiliations

Vibratory regime classification of infant phonation

Eugene H Buder et al. J Voice. 2008 Sep.

Abstract

Infant phonation is highly variable in many respects, including the basic vibratory patterns by which the vocal tissues create acoustic signals. Previous studies have identified the regular occurrence of nonmodal phonation types in normal infant phonation. The glottis is like many oscillating systems that, because of nonlinear relationships among the elements, may vibrate in ways representing the deterministic patterns classified theoretically within the mathematical framework of nonlinear dynamics. The infant's preverbal vocal explorations present such a variety of phonations that it may be possible to find effectively all the classes of vibration predicted by nonlinear dynamic theory. The current report defines acoustic criteria for an important subset of such vibratory regimes, and demonstrates that analysts can be trained to reliably use these criteria for a classification that includes all instances of infant phonation in the recorded corpora. The method is thus internally comprehensive in the sense that all phonations are classified, but it is not exhaustive in the sense that all vocal qualities are thereby represented. Using the methods thus developed, this study also demonstrates that the distributions of these phonation types vary significantly across sessions of recording in the first year of life, suggesting developmental changes. The method of regime classification is thus capable of tracking changes that may be indicative of maturation of the mechanism, the learning of categories of phonatory control, and the possibly varying use of vocalizations across social contexts.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Spectrographic example of utterance with single modal regime. Total frequency range is approximately 5.6 kHz
Figure 2
Figure 2
Spectrographic example of utterance with loft regime preceded and followed by modal. Total frequency range is approximately 3.5 kHz. Although some evidence of more complex harmonic structure is visible in the transition from loft back to modal, the episode is shorter than 50 ms and so is not classified as a distinct regime (spurious appearances of transitional overlap are also the unavoidable result of the temporal smearing in extreme narrowband spectrograms).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Example of pulse regime preceded and followed by modal, including both a spectrogram with a range of 3.5 kHz and a waveform. The displayed sample is approximately 350 ms in duration, with the segment classified as pulse delimited by cursors. A spurious “cross-hatching” pattern is visible during the pulse phonation caused by the fact that the distance between harmonics begins to approach the effective frequency resolution of the spectrogram.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Example of subharmonic regime preceded and followed by modal, including both a spectrogram with a range of 3.5 kHz and a waveform. The displayed sample is approximately 250 ms in duration.
Figure 5
Figure 5
An example of biphonation that begins with a high modal phonation and ends with a low modal phonation. While some low frequency harmonics appear to be continuous throughout this example this may be a an artifact of temporal smearing; it is clear approximately one third through the approximately 500 ms sample that some harmonics are moving in non-parallel directions. The middle segment of the waveform also exhibits a deeply modulated nearly chaotic appearance typical of two overlapping waveforms whose periods are in changing non-integer relationships.
Figure 6
Figure 6
An example of approximately 200 ms of chaos, followed after a pause by some high modal phonation. Note the absence of harmonic structure but a predominance of low frequency energy in the spectrogram, and corresponding waveshapes that appear glottal in form but lacking in periodicity.
Figure 7
Figure 7
An example of a closed stop lasting approximately 400 ms. The complete silence during the gap, preceded by a pulse phonation of rapidly decreasing f0 and followed by a highly abrupt onset of modal phonation (as seen most clearly in the waveform) are features that support this as an especially clear instance of stopping by glottal adduction.
Figure 8
Figure 8
An example of an open stop lasting approximately 100 ms. The waveform exhibits gradual cessation and resumption of voicing, along with some high frequency noise consistent with air turbulence through an open glottis.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Decision-making tree for regime classification.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Histograms of differences in timing between analysts’ and key’s placements of regime beginning boundaries (a) and ending boundaries (b).
Figure 11
Figure 11
Percentages at which distinct regime types were observed at 3 ages in a girl’s first year of life (40 minutes of interaction with mother at each age).
Fiugre 12
Fiugre 12
Percentages at which distinct regime types were observed across two longitudinal samples at approximately 7 months of age.
Figure 13
Figure 13
Mean durations of distinct regime types at three ages (see text for statistical results).
Figure 14
Figure 14
Mean continuous phonation durations at three ages (see text for statistical results).
Figure 15
Figure 15
Mean percentage of continuous phonations accounted for distinct regime types at three ages (see text for statistical results).
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