Durational Characteristics of the Speech of Apraxics and Conduction Aphasics

This study examined the vowel production of an individual with aphasia and accompanying apraxia of speech during both imitation and reading tasks producing CVC syllables within a carrier phrase. Listener judgments revealed a predominance of errors for the short, front vowels // and // for both conditions. Although duration measures of perceptually correct productions revealed a relatively preserved durational distinction for the long and short vowels, the magnitude of this difference was shorter than reported in previous studies, as were the overall durations of all vowels measured. In contrast to previous studies, perceived vowel errors exceeded consonant errors, suggesting that assumptions regarding the complexity of vowel production be reconsidered.