A comparison of the contributions of two voice quality characteristics to the perception of maleness and femaleness in the voice

Abstract

Comparisons were made between the contributions of the fundamental frequency (F0) on one hand, and vocal tract resonances on the other, to a perception of maleness and femaleness in the adult voice. In the first of two experiments, the F0 of natural voice was found to be very highly correlated with the degree of maleness and femaleness in the voice. The vocal tract resonances were less highly correlated and it is apparent that in the presence of the natural laryngeal tone, these perceptions are based on the frequency of the F0. In the second experiment, a tone produced by a laryngeal vibrator was substituted for the normal glottal tone at simulated F0's representing both males (120 Hz) and females (240 Hz). When listeners were asked to identify the sex of the speakers some inconsistently with the findings of the first experiment was seen. The female F0 was a weak indicator of female voice quality when combined with male vocal tract resonance although the male F0 retained the perceptual prominence seen in the first experiment. This finding may be indicative of some basic difference in the normal glottal characteristics of males and females.