Summary
Objectives/Hypothesis
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the contribution of vowel formant
frequencies to gender identification in connected speech, the distinctiveness of vowel
formants in males versus females, and how ambiguous speaking fundamental frequencies
(SFFs) and vowel formants might affect perception of gender.
Study Design
Multivalent experimental.
Methods
Speakers subjects (eight tall males, eight short females, and seven males and seven
females of “middle” height) were recorded saying two carrier phrases to elicit the
vowels /i/ and /α/ and a sentence. The gender/height groups were selected to (presumably)
maximize formant differences between some groups (tall vs short) and minimize differences
between others (middle height). Each subjects' samples were digitally altered to distinct
SFFs (116, 145, 155, 165, and 207 Hz) to represent SFFs typical of average males, average females, and in an ambiguous
range. Listeners judged the gender of each randomized altered speech sample.
Results
Results indicated that female speakers were perceived as female even with an SFF in
the typical male range. For male speakers, gender perception was less accurate at
SFFs of 165 Hz and higher. Although the ranges of vowel formants had considerable overlap between
genders, significant differences in formant frequencies of males and females were
seen.
Conclusions
Vowel formants appeared to be important to perception of gender, especially for SFFs
in the range of 145–165 Hz; however, formants may be a more salient cue in connected speech when compared
with isolated vowels or syllables.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 15, 2013
Accepted:
November 26,
2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
