Perceptual tonal spaces in whispered speech

Abstract

Whispered speech is made when no vocal fold vibration occurs. However, pitch from whispers can still be perceived for some listeners because it corresponds to the change in F1 and F2. Listeners rely on the laryngeal movements, which not only associate with pitch change but also result in the change of the tongue position as well as the shape of the oral cavity. This study examines the acoustical-perceptual relationships in the identification of pitch during whispered tone production. Listeners (English and Taiwanese) rate the similarity of fifty AX tonal pairs (Taiwanese [ka℧] and [ɕ] in modal voice vs. whispered voice). Multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis is used to map English listeners’ and Taiwanese listeners’ perceptual tonal spaces regarding modal speech and whispered speech stimuli. The correlations between the similarity ratings, the reciprocal of their reaction time, and the selected acoustic measures are examined.