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Mumbling: Macho or Morphology?
Melanie Weirich1, Susanne Fuchs2, Adrian Simpson3
1ZAS-Centre for General Linguistics, Berlin, GermanyHumboldt University, Berlin, Germany.
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research : JSLHR
|December 22, 2016
Summary
Men
Area of Science:
- Speech science
- Anatomy
- Phonetics
Background:
- Mumbling, a common male speech trait, may stem from smaller jaw openings.
- Behavioral factors are often cited for sex-specific speech clarity differences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate anatomical reasons for smaller jaw openings in male speakers.
- To explore sex-specific differences in jaw opening during speech production.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of articulatory data for jaw opening in low vowels across American English and German speakers.
- Examination of sex-specific differences and accent interactions.
- Articulatory modeling to compare male and female jaw-opening settings.
Main Results:
- Female speakers exhibited greater jaw openings, especially in accented speech.
- Modeling revealed that similar jaw settings caused pharyngeal constriction differences between male and female models.
- Complete radico-pharyngeal closure occurred in the male model with similar settings.
Conclusions:
- Empirical and modeling data suggest a physiological basis for sex-specific speech clarity differences in low vowels.
- Anatomical variations in jaw opening may contribute to speech production differences between sexes.
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