halshs-00999332, version 1

Communication dans un congrès

Abstract : Many studies have been conducted on acoustic differences between female and male speech. However, they have generally been led on speakers of only one language, and have focused on a single acoustic parameter. The present study is an acoustic analysis of dissyllabic words or pseudo-words produced by 10 Northeastern American English speakers (5 females, 5 males) and 10 Parisian French speakers (5 females, 5 males). Several prosodic parameters were measured: mean f0, f0 range, phonation type (through H1-H2 intensity differences) and words' duration. Significant cross-gender differences were obtained for each tested parameter. Moreover, cross-language variations were observed for f0 range, and H1-H2 differences. These results suggest that cross-gender acoustic differences are partly language-dependent and could be socially constructed.