The pattern of tongue pressure against the palate during articulating glossal sounds in normal subjects and glossectomy patients.

The purpose of the present study was to measure tongue pressure with the aim of characterizing the pattern of linguopalatal contact during articulating glossal sounds in normal subjects and glossectomy patients. Tongue pressures against the palate were evaluated in 13 normal subjects and 5 glossectomy patients by using three parameters: the duration from the onset of linguopalatal contact to the time of maximum pressure, the maximum pressure, and anterior posterior ratio of the maximum pressure. Three glossal sounds, [ti], [t [symbol: see text] i], and [[symbol: see text] i], which have tendency of mishearing in glossectomy patients, were selected for test sounds. A unique characteristic was demonstrated in normal subjects. The score of the maximum pressure showed an apparent order among the three sounds, while the durations revealed the opposite order. Anterior posterior ratio of the maximum pressure also showed some relationship among three sounds. In glossectomy patients, these characters were not found. The loss of tongue volume or deterioration of tongue mobility causes these results.