年齡對臺灣華語元音聲調產製中的舌骨喉頭接近動作之影響

Abstract

在語音學中，舌骨與甲狀軟骨的交互作用相對較少被討論，然而在醫學領域中，兩者因在吞嚥與吞嚥障礙中扮演關鍵角色而備受重視。本研究探討語音產製過程中舌骨喉頭接近動作的時間變化，並檢視此現象是否會隨年齡和母音與聲調環境而有所不同。本研究招募了無吞嚥障礙、流利使用臺灣華語的年輕成人與年長者作為受試者。研究中運用超音波影像與廣義加成模型來分析語音產出中的舌骨喉頭接近動作，並以表面肌電圖來對肌肉活化模式進行定性分析。超音波結果顯示語音產製中存在舌骨喉頭接近動作，且其表現出年齡差異與母音與聲調環境的影響；年長者表現出較弱的舌骨喉頭接近程度。這些差異可能受到老化與不同世代間的聲調變異所影響。肌電圖的結果顯現年輕成人受試者的肌肉活化模式具有聲調與母音特異性，而年長者的結果則暗示其舌部姿態的啟動時間可能早於年輕成人受試者。本研究結果為了解語音產製中的舌骨喉頭動態提供了初步的認識，並可能有助於未來與吞嚥過程中舌骨喉頭動態的比較研究。

The interplay between the hyoid bone and thyroid cartilage has been relatively underexplored in phonetics despite receiving significant attention in medicine due to their critical roles in deglutition and dysphagia. This study investigated hyolaryngeal approximation changes over time during speech production and examined whether it varies across ages and vowel-tone contexts. Young adult and elderly non-dysphagic fluent Taiwan Mandarin speakers were recruited. Ultrasound imaging with generalized additive mixed modeling was used to characterize hyolaryngeal approximation during speech while surface electromyography (EMG) was applied to qualitatively analyze muscle activation patterns. Ultrasound results revealed hyolaryngeal approximation during speech, along with age-related differences modulated by vowel-tone contexts; elderly speakers exhibited more reduced approximation. These differences are likely influenced by aging and cross-generational tonal variations. The EMG results showed tone- and vowel-specific patterns for the young adult speakers while the results for the elderly speakers suggested earlier activation for lingual gestures compared to the young adult speakers. These findings represent a preliminary step to understanding hyolaryngeal dynamics during speech production and may help inform future comparisons with hyolaryngeal dynamics in swallowing.