Purpose
The aim of the study was to examine associations between speaking fundamental frequency (
f
os
), vowel formant frequencies (
F
), listener perceptions of speaker gender, and vocal femininity–masculinity.
Method
An exploratory study was undertaken to examine associations between
f
os
,
F
1
–
F
3
, listener perceptions of speaker gender (nominal scale), and vocal femininity–masculinity (visual analog scale). For 379 speakers of Australian English aged 18–60 years,
f
os
mode and
F
1
–
F
3
(12 monophthongs; total of 36
F
s) were analyzed on a standard reading passage. Seventeen listeners rated speaker gender and vocal femininity–masculinity on randomized audio recordings of these speakers.
Results
Model building using principal component analysis suggested the 36
F
s could be succinctly reduced to seven principal components (PCs). Generalized structural equation modeling (with the seven PCs of
F
and
f
os
as predictors) suggested that only
F
2
and
f
os
predicted listener perceptions of speaker gender (male, female, unable to decide). However, listener perceptions of vocal femininity–masculinity behaved differently and were predicted by
F
1
,
F
3
, and the contrast between monophthongs at the extremities of the
F
1
acoustic vowel space, in addition to
F
2
and
f
os
. Furthermore, listeners' perceptions of speaker gender also influenced ratings of vocal femininity–masculinity substantially.
Conclusion
Adjusted odds ratios highlighted the substantially larger contribution of
F
to listener perceptions of speaker gender and vocal femininity–masculinity relative to
f
os
than has previously been reported.
Variability of vowel formant frequencies and speaker normalization: The cases of Mandarin and Taiwanese
