Age-Related and Gender-Related Differences in Cantonese Vowels

This study compares the formant frequencies of the Cantonese vowels of four categories of speakers, including Men, Women, Boys, and Girls. Results of the spectral analysis show that as expected the vowel formant frequency values are larger for child speakers than adult speakers and larger for female speakers than male speakers, due to the presumed difference in vocal tract length among the different categories of speakers. Vowel normalization is performed to minimize the difference in formant frequencies that arise from the between-speaker difference in vocal tract length. The normalized data reveal the similarities in the spectral characteristics of the Cantonese vowels across the four categories of speakers. The spectral data also show the age-related and gender-related differences in the Cantonese vowels between adult and child speakers and between male and female speakers.