An intonational analysis of deaf speech: A case study

Abstract

The intonation of an English speaking congenitally deaf adult was analysed using the framework set out by Crystal (1969) for normal spoken English. The analysis revealed a deviant and efficient intonation system. The main features of this system included, firstly, an excessive use of tone units resulting in unintentionally emphatic sounding speech; secondly, inaccurate and inconsistent use of both the grammatical and accentual junctions of tonicity; and thirdly, a deficient tone system with additional abnormal use of the tones which formed the subject's tonal repertoire. This paper highlights the need for both phonetic and phonological analyses in order to obtain a true indication of a speaker's performance.