Abstract:Purpose: There has been growing research on the effects of language on voice characteristics; however, few studies have examined the impact of language on vocal features within bilinguals. This study aimed to compare vocal parameters among bilingual Hebrew/English speaking individuals when speaking in Hebrew versus English. Methods: Forty bilingual participants (17 males and 23 females) between the ages of 23-60 years were asked to spontaneously speak about a neutral topic. Voice samples were digitalized into … Show more
“…Ample research supports the connection between internal factors, such as age, gender, anatomy, emotional state, ethnicity, and voice [2][3][4]. However, a small number of studies have explored the relationship between voice and external factors, such as language and speech tasks, when striving to understand voice in its entirety [4][5][6].…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…English has been the most studied language in crosslinguistic research, owing to its global dominance in education and business [9,10]. Bilingual speakers' vocal characteristics have been explored across English and other languages including: Japanese, Hebrew, Welsh, Mandarin, Korean, Cantonese, Arabian, Finnish, and Russian [4,5,[11][12][13][14]. Fundamental frequency (f 0 ) has been the most widely considered parameter in crosslinguistic voice studies and is a salient feature of talker identity [9,14].…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Fewer studies have recognized speech tasks as a confounding factor [4][5][6][7]. The structured nature of reading may cause speakers to hyperarticulate and present with higher f 0 measurements [4,17,18].…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The structured nature of reading may cause speakers to hyperarticulate and present with higher f 0 measurements [4,17,18]. Spontaneous speech tasks, however, reflect the speaker's true vocal nature in conversation [5,19]. Bilingual speakers may employ language-specific laryngeal configurations that induce f 0 variations in spontaneous speech [7].…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Bilingual speakers may employ language-specific laryngeal configurations that induce f 0 variations in spontaneous speech [7]. Cross-linguistic f 0 variations in spontaneous speech suggest that the language spoken, rather than task-type, contributes to language-based vocal differences [5,7,11].…”
Introduction: Bilinguals constitute a significant portion of speech-language pathologists’ (SLPs) caseloads. Insight into the cross-linguistic effect on voice is needed to guide SLPs to make linguistically-appropriate observations when working with heterogenous populations.
Method: Nineteen female English-Northern Sotho bilinguals performed three speech tasks (reading, picture description and monologue) in each language. Acoustic analysis of mean fundamental frequency (f0), intensity, and articulation rate was conducted with Praat. A panel of blinded listeners reached consensus after independently reviewing the recordings during perceptual analysis of voice quality, resonance, and glottal attack.
Results: The following statistically significant differences were found across and within the languages: The mean f0 was 204.61Hz in the Northern Sotho picture description yet 196.50Hz in the English picture description. The mean intensity of reading in Northern Sotho was 66.38dB whereas the mean intensity of reading in English was 65.09dB. Articulation rate was 3.78 syllables/sec in English passage reading and 3.41 syllables/sec in Northern Sotho passage reading. Within English, passage reading elicited a significantly quicker articulation rate than the picture description (3.34 syllables/sec) and monologue (3.46syllables/sec). Within Northern Sotho, mean f0 was 203.83Hz in passage reading yet 191.11Hz in the monologue. Perceptual voice quality, glottal attack, and resonance were comparable across languages.
Discussion/Conclusion: Relationships between languages spoken, task performance, and vocal characteristics were observed in English-Northern Sotho bilingual females. SLPs must consider the interaction of language, task performance, and vocal characteristics when working with bilingual clients.
“…Ample research supports the connection between internal factors, such as age, gender, anatomy, emotional state, ethnicity, and voice [2][3][4]. However, a small number of studies have explored the relationship between voice and external factors, such as language and speech tasks, when striving to understand voice in its entirety [4][5][6].…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…English has been the most studied language in crosslinguistic research, owing to its global dominance in education and business [9,10]. Bilingual speakers' vocal characteristics have been explored across English and other languages including: Japanese, Hebrew, Welsh, Mandarin, Korean, Cantonese, Arabian, Finnish, and Russian [4,5,[11][12][13][14]. Fundamental frequency (f 0 ) has been the most widely considered parameter in crosslinguistic voice studies and is a salient feature of talker identity [9,14].…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Fewer studies have recognized speech tasks as a confounding factor [4][5][6][7]. The structured nature of reading may cause speakers to hyperarticulate and present with higher f 0 measurements [4,17,18].…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The structured nature of reading may cause speakers to hyperarticulate and present with higher f 0 measurements [4,17,18]. Spontaneous speech tasks, however, reflect the speaker's true vocal nature in conversation [5,19]. Bilingual speakers may employ language-specific laryngeal configurations that induce f 0 variations in spontaneous speech [7].…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Bilingual speakers may employ language-specific laryngeal configurations that induce f 0 variations in spontaneous speech [7]. Cross-linguistic f 0 variations in spontaneous speech suggest that the language spoken, rather than task-type, contributes to language-based vocal differences [5,7,11].…”
Introduction: Bilinguals constitute a significant portion of speech-language pathologists’ (SLPs) caseloads. Insight into the cross-linguistic effect on voice is needed to guide SLPs to make linguistically-appropriate observations when working with heterogenous populations.
Method: Nineteen female English-Northern Sotho bilinguals performed three speech tasks (reading, picture description and monologue) in each language. Acoustic analysis of mean fundamental frequency (f0), intensity, and articulation rate was conducted with Praat. A panel of blinded listeners reached consensus after independently reviewing the recordings during perceptual analysis of voice quality, resonance, and glottal attack.
Results: The following statistically significant differences were found across and within the languages: The mean f0 was 204.61Hz in the Northern Sotho picture description yet 196.50Hz in the English picture description. The mean intensity of reading in Northern Sotho was 66.38dB whereas the mean intensity of reading in English was 65.09dB. Articulation rate was 3.78 syllables/sec in English passage reading and 3.41 syllables/sec in Northern Sotho passage reading. Within English, passage reading elicited a significantly quicker articulation rate than the picture description (3.34 syllables/sec) and monologue (3.46syllables/sec). Within Northern Sotho, mean f0 was 203.83Hz in passage reading yet 191.11Hz in the monologue. Perceptual voice quality, glottal attack, and resonance were comparable across languages.
Discussion/Conclusion: Relationships between languages spoken, task performance, and vocal characteristics were observed in English-Northern Sotho bilingual females. SLPs must consider the interaction of language, task performance, and vocal characteristics when working with bilingual clients.
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