Perceptual-Auditory and Acoustic Analysis of Breathiness in Cis and Transgender Men and Women

Abstract

ObjectiveTo verify breathiness in the cisgender and transgender men and women’s voices, compare values of acoustic and perceptual indicators of breathiness and fundamental frequency (f0) between groups, and compare them between the voices attributed as female and male. Study designCross sectional retrospective study. MethodsThe study as approved by the Research Ethics Committee (4,937,140). Sustained vowel /a/ and continuous speech recordings of 21 cisgender men (CISM), 31 transgender men (TM), 32 cisgender women (CISW) and 31 transgender women (TW) were analyzed. Three judges conducted a perceptive-auditory analysis regarding the degree breathiness, using visual analogue scale, and attributed gender (female or male). The ABI (Acoustic Breathiness Index) was extracted using the PRAAT software (6.1.16). The f0, Harmonic-Noise Ratio (HNR), Voice Turbulence Index (VTI) and Soft Phonation Index (SPI) were analyzed using the Multi-Dimensional Voice Program (KayPentax). ResultsThe ABI value for CISM was lower than for TM and CISW. CISW had the higher f0 than; TM had a higher f0 than CISM; and TW had a higher f0 than CISM. The groups did not differ for HNR and VTI. Regarding the SPI, CISM had higher values than CISW. Regarding the auditory perception, TM presented more intense breathiness than CISM in the vowel. Regarding gender attribution by voice, the voices CISM and CISW were 100% identified as male and female. On the other hand, in the vowel analysis, 45.2% of the TM voices were perceived as female and 59.4% of TW voices as male. ConclusionBreathiness occurs differently between groups and the voices perceived as male and female. Even when TM are submitted to the use of testosterone and undergo vocal changes, the transglottal airflow remains, which is a female characteristic of phonation.