Formants of children, women, and men: the effects of vocal intensity variation

The purpose of this study was to investigate the formant frequencies and amplitudes of a wide age range of children and one group of adults at three sound pressure levels (SPLs). Subjects were ten females and ten males in the following age groups (in years): 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and adults. A sustained /a/ was produced three times by each subject. Formant frequencies were obtained using linear predictive coding analysis. Formant amplitudes were measured from the highest amplitude harmonic in the area of each formant. In addition to following established trends previously published in other studies, it was hypothesized that the first formant frequency would increase with increasing intensity, that females would have higher formant frequencies than same aged males, and that women and children would have reduced formant amplitudes as compared to men. It was found that first formant frequency increased with intensity and changed as a function of age and sex. Second and third formant frequencies changed with age and sex. Formant amplitudes followed the trends set by the SPL differences and did not change as a function of age and sex. Results are discussed in terms of anatomic differences and SPL.