A Fundamental Frequency Data Acquisition System (FFDAS).

Authors

Donald J. Stilwell, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

1981

Abstract

The human voice contains many frequencies, but the human listener perceives the lowest frequency in the harmonic series, the fundamental frequency (FO), as the pitch of the speaker’s voice at any given instant in time. Fundamental frequency in human speech conveys linguistic (semantic, syntactical, and lexical) information, as well as paralinguistic (sex, age, and emotional state) content. Variations in FO identify major clause and phrase boundaries, and are used to indicate syllable stress. Stressed syllables, for example, are usually of higher frequency than unstressed syllables and of greater duration. Because speakers cannot adjust loudness and pitch period completely independently, as will be discussed in the next section, stressed syllables also tend to be of higher acoustic intensity than their unstressed counterparts. Fundamental frequency is used to distinguish between declarative and interrogative statements. The question, "Are you sure?", has a rising intonation pattern. In tonal languages such as Chinese, the fundamental frequency is also used to differentiate words lexically as well as syntactically. In Chinese, for example, the words shū, shú, shŭ, and shù mean book, ripe, to count, and tree, respectively (Ladefoged, 1975; Cooper and Sorensen, 1981; Minifie et al, 1973).

Comments

MS - Master of Science/Master of Surgery; ProQuest publication number 31752065

Recommended Citation

Stilwell, Donald J., "A Fundamental Frequency Data Acquisition System (FFDAS)." (1981). All ETDs from UAB. 7145.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/7145