Age and Gender Differences in Belgian Dutch Intonation

This study investigated whether intonation is influenced by age and gender and obtained normative data for the intonation of Flemish (Belgian Dutch) speaking cis women and cis men in Flanders, Belgium, per age group.

A total of 105 cis women and 102 cis men were included and equally spread in five age groups by gender. Semi-structured speech samples were elicited using a prosody protocol. An objective acoustic analysis was performed to determine four intonation parameters (general intonation shift, general fundamental frequency range, final intonation shift, and fundamental frequency variation index).

Cis women used a higher percentage of general upward and downward intonation shifts than cis men. Cis men generally used more flat intonation shifts than cis women. A larger mean value was observed in cis women as compared to cis men for each of the continuous intonation parameters per sentence type. In terms of age, differences in continuous intonation parameters were found between younger and older age groups, mostly with the 46-55-year-old age group, in which the younger age groups showed smaller mean values for all parameters.

Cis women use a more expressive intonation than cis men. In terms of age, older persons showed a more expressive intonation in a number of sentences compared to younger persons. The prosody protocol and the normative data from this study can be used to determine speech therapy goals.