Gender Variation in Creaky Voice and Fundamental Frequency
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Date
2015-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
The current study examines creaky voice and the fundamental frequency associated with modal and creaky voicing across genders. I analyzed read speech data from five male and five female Midwestern Americans between the ages of 18 and 25. I found that female speakers use creaky voice more often than male speakers in this dialect. Additionally, the male speakers produced a much smaller difference in fundamental frequency between modal and creaky voicing than the female speakers. I suggest that the difference in fundamental frequency ranges across genders may cause creaky voice to be more perceptually salient in the speech of women than men. As a result, I propose that women use creaky voice more often than men because it is more salient in their speech and may thus more easily carry social meaning.
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Keywords
gender, fundamental frequency, phonetics, voice quality