Vowel formant frequency characteristics of preadolescent males and females.

This report describes the vowel formant frequency characteristics (F1-F4 of five vowels produced in a fixed phonetic context) of 42 seven and eight year old boys and girls and the relationship of vocal tract resonances to several indices of body size. Results showed that the vowel resonances of male children were consistently lower than those of females, and that the extent of the sexual differences varied as a function of formant number and vowel category. Average across all measured formants of all five vowels, the overall sexual distinction was approximately 10%. The range of differences extended from about 3% for F1 of /i/ to 16%for F1 of /ae/. Measures of body size were always significantly related to these children's formant frequencies (range in multiple r's -0.506 to -0.866). The origin of the sexual differences in vocal tract resonance characteristics is discussed with reference to differences in vocal tract size and articulatory behaviors.