Puheenlaatu

Puheenlaatu (from Finnish puhe meaning speech and laatu meaning quality) is a concept used in Finnish-language discussions of spoken language that denotes the overall quality of spoken communication. In common use it encompasses several dimensions, including clarity of articulation, fluency, rhythm and pacing, intonation and prosody, volume and voice quality, and adherence to linguistic norms and audience expectations. The term is primarily used in educational, clinical, and media contexts to discuss how effectively spoken language conveys meaning.

In practice, puheenlaatu can be assessed perceptually by listeners or evaluated with acoustic measurements. Perceptual scoring may rate intelligibility, smoothness, naturalness, and expressiveness, while objective metrics can include articulation rate, pause structure, spectral tilt, jitter, shimmer, and fundamental frequency patterns. The lack of a formal, universally adopted standard means that evaluations can vary across institutions and languages, though the concept remains useful for comparing or guiding improvements in speech production.

Applications include language education, speech-language pathology, broadcast and public speaking training, and voice-acting. In education, puheenlaatu is linked to language proficiency and communicative competence. In clinical settings, improving puheenlaatu can involve articulation therapy, voice care, and prosody training. Critics note that the term can be broad and subjective, and recommend pairing it with specific, measurable indicators when designing assessments.

See also: intelligibility, prosody, articulation, voice quality, speech therapy.