| Description: |
Introduction: Vocants as infants’ first vocalic utterances are produced laryngeally while the vocal tract is maintained in a neutral position. These “primitive” sounds have sometimes been described as largely innate and, therefore, as sounding alike in both healthy and hearing-impaired young infants. Objective: The objective of this study is to compare melody features of vocants, recorded during face-to-face interaction, between infants ( N = 8) with profound congenital sensorineural hearing loss (HI group) and age-matched ( N = 18) controls (CO) group. The question was as follows: does a lack of auditory feedback have a noticeable effect on melodic features of vocants? Methods: The cooing database totalled 6,998 vocalizations (HI: N = 2,847; CO: N = 4,151), all of which had been recorded during the observation period of 60–181 days of age. Identification of the vocants ( N = 1,148) was based on broadband spectrograms (KAY-CSL) and auditory impressions. Fundamental frequency (F 0 ) analyses were performed (PRAAT) and the pattern of the F 0 contour (melody) analysed using specific in-lab software (CDAP, pw-project). Generalized mixed linear models were used to perform group comparisons. Results: There was a clear predominance of a simple rising-falling pattern (single melody arcs) in vocants of both groups. Nonetheless, significantly more complex contours, particularly, double-arc structures, were found in vocants of the CO group. Moreover, vocants of the HI group were shorter than those uttered by the CO group, while the mean F 0 did not significantly differ. Conclusion: Vocants are characterized by both, innate features, found in HI and CO groups, and features that additionally require a functioning auditory system. Even at an early pre-linguistic stage, somatosensory sensations cannot compensate for a lack of auditory feedback. Vocants might be relevant in the early diagnosis of hearing disorders and assessments of the effectiveness of, or adjustments required to, hearing aids. |