Abstract
Clinical characterization of spasmodic dysphonia of the adductor type (SD) in French speakers by Klap, Marion, Perrin, Fresnel-Elbaz and Cohen (1993) appears to differ from that of SD in English. This perceptual analysis aims to describe the phonetic features of French SD. A video of six French speakers with SD supplied by Klap et al. was analysed for the frequency of phonatory breaks, pitch breaks, harshness, creak, breathiness and falsetto voice, rate of production, and quantity of speech output. In contrast to English SD, the French-speaking SD patients demonstrated no evidence of pitch breaks, but phonatory breaks, harshness and breathiness were prominent features. This verifies the French authors' clinical description. These findings suggest that phonetic properties of a specific language may affect the manifestation of pathology in neurogenic voice disorders.