ARTICULATION TESTING METHODS 



851 



syllable, and 1.5 per cent five-syllable words, and an average number 

 of two syllables per word. The discrete word intelligibility vs. 

 syllable articulation as obtained with the standard lists is shown in 

 Fig. 13. The dashed curves indicate the relations for the various 

 types of words, and the solid curve for the word lists as a whole. 

 The data for two syllable words practically coincided with the solid 

 curve. Owing to the small amount of data, the curves for the four- 

 and five-syllable words are less reliable than those for the other types. 

 Curves of the above type, both for words and sentences, depend very 



(- 80 



40 60 



SYLLABLE ARTICULATION 



100 



Fig. 13 — Discrete word intelligibility vs. syllable articulation 



much upon the way the speech material is selected. If, for example, 

 only "different" words had been included in the word lists, appreciably 

 smaller values of discrete word intelligibility would have been obtained. 

 Tests have also been made with lists made up of the following 

 numbers, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8. These numbers were combined at random 

 into groups of three and called in the manner of an ordinary articulation 

 syllable. The distinguishing characteristic of each of the above 

 numbers is a vowel sound, so that, they are interpreted primarily 

 from recognizing the vowel. Such lists, therefore, do not give a very 

 good picture of the speech capabilities of a system which distorts 

 speech. They are, however, very useful in measuring the deafness 



