Effects of Speech-Shaped Noise on Consonant Recognition in Malay

This paper presents the effect of speech-shaped noise on consonant recognitions in Malay. Scores were measured using a 22-alternative forced choice task. Based on responses, consonants were grouped into low, medium and high scoring sets, and the results were compared with some previous reports on English consonants. Our results showed that fricatives were less affected, whereas laterals and nasals were severely affected by speech-shaped noise. Large differences in consonant recognition scores at unfavorable signal-to-noise ratios (e.g., -10 dB) suggest that speech-shaped noise masked the Malay consonants non-uniformly. This was a key finding that differs from research reports with uniform speech masking in white noise. Masking patterns had some similarities and notable differences between English and Malay. The noted differences may have clinical implications for the design of signal processing strategies for hearing devices that are intended to improve speech understanding in noise for non-English speakers such as Malaysians.