Evidence from HNR that /s/ is a social marker of gender

Abstract

There are many studies demonstrating the phonetic cues to gender found in our speech, but for many of these cues it is not clear if they are a product of our anatomical make-up or a product of our social background. The goal of this study is to demonstrate that one of these cues to gender, the frequency spectrum of the frication produced by the sibilant /s/, contains a socially acquired component. Male and female adult speakers of two languages, Canadian English and Japanese, were recorded producing words containing /s/. The harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR) of each subject's speech sample was also measured. ANOVA analysis of the spectral moments of /s/ revealed significant differences between the two language groups. As well, the female English speakers showed a significant correlation between the first moment and HNR, suggesting that at least for the female English group, /s/ contains a socially acquired component.

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