Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 10, 2026
Minimally Invasive Murine Laryngoscopy for Close-Up Imaging of Laryngeal Motion During Breathing and Swallowing
Published on: December 1, 2023
Relation of perceived breathiness to laryngeal kinematics and acoustic measures based on computational modeling
Robin A Samlan1, Brad H Story, Kate Bunton
1University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA. rsamlan@email.arizona.edu
Purpose:
In this study, the authors sought to determine (a) how specific vocal fold structural and vibratory features relate to breathy voice quality and (b) the relation of perceived breathiness to 4 acoustic correlates of breathiness.
Method:
A computational, kinematic model of the vocal fold medial surfaces was used to specify features of vocal fold structure and vibration in a manner consistent with breathy voice. Four model parameters were altered: vocal process separation, surface bulging, vibratory nodal point, and epilaryngeal constriction. Twelve naïve listeners rated breathiness of 364 samples relative to a reference. The degree of breathiness was then compared to (a) the underlying kinematic profile and (b) 4 acoustic measures: cepstral peak prominence (CPP), harmonics-to-noise ratio, and two measures of spectral slope.
Results:
Vocal process separation alone accounted for 61.4% of the variance in perceptual rating. Adding nodal point ratio and bulging to the equation increased the explained variance to 88.7%. The acoustic measure CPP accounted for 86.7% of the variance in perceived breathiness, and explained variance increased to 92.6% with the addition of one spectral slope measure.
Conclusion:
Breathiness ratings were best explained kinematically by the degree of vocal process separation and acoustically by CPP.
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