Effect of language, speaking style and speaker sex on global measures of fundamental frequency

Author(s)

Pablo Arantes ^[1] ; Maria Érica do Nascimento Linhares ^[2]

Affiliation

^[1] Universidade Federal de São Carlos - Brasil

^[2] Universidade Federal de São Carlos - Brasil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Letras de Hoje; v. 52, n. 1, p. 26-39, 2017-03-00.

Abstract

Abstract: We analyze the effect of speaker sex, speaking style and language (English, Estonian, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish) on global statistical measures of the voice fundamental frequency. The styles studied are interview, sentence reading and word list reading. Typical F0 values used by speakers among languages differ both in male and female speakers. Sentence reading has slightly higher values than interview, but the effect is not uniform among languages. In few cases word reading and interview values differ significantly. All central tendency estimators are affected by the variables tested. Three out of five estimators of dispersion show slightly higher values for male than for female speakers. Among styles, the interview has higher standard deviation and coefficient of variation. Languages do not differ among themselves in terms of F0 variability. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/21161-5 - Investigating the robustness of invariant features of fundamental frequency across speech styles
• Grantee: Maria Érica do Nascimento Linhares
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation