Formant frequency in relation to body mass composition

This study examines the relationship between total body mass composition and vowel formant frequency and formant dispersion in men.

A total of 60 healthy male volunteers were recruited. Formant frequencies and dispersions of F1, F2, F3, and F4 for the vowels /ɑː/ and /iː/ were determined using spectrographic analysis.

The mean height and weight were 179.17 cm and 80.53 kg, respectively, with fat-free weight averaging to 67.02 kg (65.5% in the extremities vs 16.7% in the trunk). The body mass index (BMI) was 25.5 ± 3.34 kg/m(2). For the vowel /ɑː/, F1 and F4 correlated poorly with weight and trunk fat-free mass. There was also a poor negative correlation between F4 and muscle mass and body fat-free mass (r < 0.36). For the /iː/ vowel, there was a weak negative correlation between F2, F3, and F4 and height (r = -0.260, -0.299, and -0.320, respectively). Similarly, there was a negative correlation between F2 and muscle mass, trunk fat-free mass, and body fat-free mass (r = -0.291, -0.276, and -0.272, respectively). For the vowel /ɑː/, F1-F2 interspace correlated positively with fat weight, fat mass in the extremities, and trunk (r = 0.313, 0.350, and 0.264, respectively), whereas F2-F3 negatively correlated with weight (r = -0.255). For the /iː/ vowel, only F1-F2 negatively correlated with weight and BMI (r = -0.297 and -0.281).

There is no significant correlation between body mass composition, formant frequencies, and dispersions. All the correlations were poor with r values less than 0.36.