Formant frequency analysis of children's spoken and sung vowels using sweeping fundamental frequency production

• High-pitched productions present difficulties in formant frequency analysis due to wide harmonic spacing and poorly defined formants. As a consequence, there is little reliable data regarding children's spoken or sung vowel formants. Twenty-nine 11-year-old Swedish children were asked to produce 4 sustained spoken and sung vowels. In order to circumvent the problem of wide harmonic spacing, F-1 and F-2 measurements were taken from vowels produced with a sweeping F-0. Experienced choir singers were selected as subjects in order to minimize the larynx height adjustments associated with pitch variation in less skilled subjects. Results showed significantly higher formant frequencies for speech than for singing. Formants were consistently higher in girls than in boys suggesting longer vocal tracts in these preadolescent bays. Furthermore, formant scaling demonstrated vowel dependent differences between boys and girls suggesting non-uniform differences in male and female vocal tract dimensions. These vowel-dependent sex differences were not consistent with adult data.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Oto-rhino-laryngologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Otorhinolaryngology (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Arbetsterapi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Occupational Therapy (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

formant frequencies

children

sex differences

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)