Speech Naturalness

Speech naturalness is the term applied to listeners’ perception of the degree to which speech meets the typical patterns in terms of intonation, voice quality, rate, rhythm, and intensity, with respect to the syntactic structure of the utterance. When applied to an individual with an acquired speech disorder, the perceived speech naturalness may be assessed with respect to the individual’s speech at the premorbid state. Speech naturalness is frequently implemented as an outcome measure in a variety of communication disorders. It can be used as a means of gauging the severity of the disorder, evaluating the degree to which a speech disorder affects an individual’s ability to participate in the community or society or estimating the efficacy of interventions.

Speech naturalness is a global descriptor that ...