Effect of Syllable Complexity on Speech Disfluencies of Kannada Speaking Adults Who Stutter

Abstract

Stuttering is a speech disorder that is described by involuntary disruptions in natural flowing speech. Literature focuses on the variation in the typology and frequencies of disfluencies in both children and adults who stutter. Speech disfluencies across languages have been explored in the western con- text and distinct findings have been reported on the occurrences of stuttering on phonetically complex structures along with the presence of cluster disfluencies. The current study aims to investigate the effect of syllable complexity (words with and without consonant clusters) on the speech disfluencies of Kannada speaking adults who stutter. Thirty Kannada speaking adults with stuttering in the age range of 18 to 30 years were considered. A standardized Kannada reading passage constituting of words with and without consonant clusters was used. Results indicated that WCC had higher percentages of disfluencies as compared to WWCC in adults with moderate as well as severe stuttering. However, these findings were not statistically significant. Also, cluster disfluencies on words with consonant clusters were observed to be greater in adults with severe stuttering when compared to adults with moderate stuttering. Concerning the typology of cluster disfluencies, a combination of Stuttering like Disfluencies (SLD-SLD type) was observed that indicated involvement of the motoric component of stuttering. Results have been discussed with regard to the Covert Repair Hypothesis and EXPLAN theory.