Acoustic and Perceptual Characteristics of Mandarin Speech in Homosexual and Heterosexual Male Speakers
Abstract
The present study investigated both acoustic and perceptual characteristics of Mandarin speech in homosexual and heterosexual male speakers. Acoustic analyses of monosyllabic words showed significant differences between the two groups in F0 features (including the mean, the max and the range), F1 and F2 of vowels, aspiration/frication duration of consonants and center of gravity as well as skewness for /s/. Especially, the patterns were found to be opposite between Mandarin and American English speakers, which might be due to social psychological differences between the two societies. The perceptual experiment showed that the perceived score of gayness differed significantly between the speeches of the two groups. Among those acoustic parameters showing significant differences, fricative duration may be the most salient cue for sexual orientation of Mandarin male speakers.