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Multidimensional scaling of nasal voice quality
R I Zraick1, J M Liss, M F Dorman
1Department of Audiology & Speech Pathology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock 72204, USA. rizraick@exchange.uams.edu
Summary
Listeners perceive synthesized nasal voices along three key dimensions: nasality, loudness, and pitch. These perceptual dimensions align with objective acoustic measurements, confirming their validity in voice quality assessment.
Area of Science:
- Acoustic Phonetics
- Auditory Perception
- Speech Science
Background:
- Understanding voice perception is crucial for fields like speech synthesis and clinical voice analysis.
- Previous research has explored various acoustic correlates of voice quality, but a comprehensive perceptual model is still developing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the perceptual dimensions listeners use to judge the dissimilarity of synthesized nasal voices.
- To determine the relationship between subjective perceptual judgments and objective acoustic measurements of voice.
Main Methods:
- Synthesized nasal voices were created, varying in nasality, loudness, and pitch.
- Listeners judged the dissimilarity of voice pairs.
- Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (MDS) was used to analyze perceptual data for individual listeners and the group.
Main Results:
- A consistent 3-dimensional perceptual solution was identified across listeners and for the group.
- The primary dimension identified was 'Nasality' (54% variance), followed by 'Loudness' (18%) and 'Pitch' (11%).
- These perceptual dimensions showed significant positive correlations with objective measures of nasalization, intensity, and fundamental frequency.
Conclusions:
- Listeners reliably perceive synthesized nasal voices along distinct dimensions of nasality, loudness, and pitch.
- Objective acoustic measures effectively predict these perceptual dimensions, validating the use of synthesized stimuli in voice research.
- Findings contribute to a more robust understanding of voice perception and inform future research methodologies.
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