Nonsense-syllable tests measure intelligibility by stripping away language-level prediction

Evidence

The time function of perceived loudness is given on the top curve. It is strongly smoothed, but shows single syllables with relatively clear separation. It becomes clear from this curve that peak loudness, normally assumed to be perceived loudness, is produced by the vowels in speech. Consonants and plosives are very important for understanding, and are clearly visible in the specific loudness versus critical-band rate versus time patterns; their contribution to the total loudness, however, is almost negligible. — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1307 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Linguistic context lets listeners understand speech at lower acoustic intelligibility; Speech intelligibility indexes average signal-to-noise ratio across critical bands — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 90; Vowels dominate perceived loudness while consonants carry intelligibility — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1307

Broader Connections

• Vowels dominate perceived loudness while consonants carry intelligibility #expands (0.72) — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1307