Formant frequencies and body size of speaker: a weak relationship in adult humans

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between formant frequencies and body size in human adults. In Experiment I, correlation coefficients were obtained between acoustic correlates of the five Spanish vowels uttered by 82 speakers as a function of speakers’ heights and weights. In Experiment II correlations were calculated from formant parameters obtained by means of a long-term average analysis of connected speech from 91 speakers. Results of both experiments showed that, in contrast to Fitch's (J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 102 (1997) 1213) findings in macaque vocalizations, the relationship within sex between formant parameters and body size is very weak in human adults. At the same time, it is evident that correlations within the female group are greater than in male group. These results imply that the pattern of individual vocal tract development is relatively free from skeletal size constraints, due to the human descent of larynx from standard mammal position. This disassociation of vocal tract-body size is more important in human males.