Prosodic Differences in the Voices of Transgender and Cisgender Women: Self-Perception of Voice - An Auditory and Acoustic Analysis

Abstract

The voice is an important parameter for identifying the speaker's gender. Transgender people seek to adapt their bodies to gender identity, and transgender women have greater difficulties in achieving vocal acceptance. In this context, the evaluation of the various parameters of the voice of transgender and cisgender women is essential to make it possible to propose appropriate intervention measures. To identify the differences in vocal characteristics of transgender and cisgender women. An sectional study was conducted. The sample comprised 20 transgender women and 20 cisgender women who underwent evaluation of acoustic parameters, emotional prosody, self-perception, and perception of gender by lay listeners. The vocal characteristics of transgender and cisgender women differ in terms of the following parameters: f0, glottal noise excitation (GNE), vocal intensity, speech range profile (SRP), the first three formants of the vowel /a/, and in terms of emotional prosody, including duration and melodic contour. Higher values ​​were mostly found in the cisgender population, except for noise level and vocal intensity. In addition, in most cases lay listeners identified the voices of transgender women as belonging to the male gender. There was a negative correlation between vocal dissatisfaction and f0 among transgender women. Even though they perform vocal adjustments, the voices of transgender women are different from cisgender women in terms of acoustic parameters, vocal extension, and emotional prosody including duration and melodic contour. These differences have repercussions on the perception of gender by listeners.