A comparison of the acoustic vowel spaces of speech and song
Speaking and singing are two modes of the same system. These modes are subject to similar constraints, but have different goals. This study examined the acoustic vowel spaces, as defined by formant frequencies, used by singers when they were singing or speaking the same linguistic content. Overall, formant values decreased during singing compared to singing. This resulted in compression of the vowel space, with more overlapping vowel regions during singing. However, this was not consistent for all vowels and all singers. Differences between the modes are partially explained by known articulatory processes used during singing, such as larynx lowering. This may reflect the way that speakers balance communicative versus aesthetic concerns when articulating lyrics.
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Work Title A comparison of the acoustic vowel spaces of speech and song Access Creators - Evan D. Bradley
Keyword - Song
- Acoustics
- Singer
- Vowel Space
- Singing
- Acoustic Vowel Space
- Vocal Music
- Linguistic Content
- Vowels
- Formant Frequency
- Two Mode
- Speaking
- Singers
- Language
- Aesthetics
- Formant
- Speaker
- Lyrics
- Formants
- Compression
- Values
- Linguistics
- Formant Frequencies
License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives) Work Type Article Publisher - Linguistic Research
Publication Date June 2018 Publisher Identifier (DOI) - doi.org10.17250/khisli.35.2.201806.006
Deposited November 12, 2025 Versions
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Version 1
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Created
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Added Creator Evan D. Bradley
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Updated Keyword, Publisher, Publisher Identifier (DOI), and 3 more Show ChangesKeywordPublisher
- Song, Acoustics, Singer, Vowel Space, Singing, Acoustic Vowel Space, Vocal Music, Linguistic Content, Vowels, Formant Frequency, Two Mode, Speaking, Singers, Language, Aesthetics, Formant, Speaker, Lyrics, Formants, Compression, Values, Linguistics, Formant Frequencies
Publisher Identifier (DOI)- Linguistic Research
Related URLs- 10.17250/khisli.35.2.201806.006
Description- https://doi.org/10.17250/khisli.35.2.201806.006
Publication Date- Speaking and singing are two modes of the same system. These modes are subject to similar constraints, but have different goals. This study examined the acoustic vowel spaces, as defined by formant frequencies, used by singers when they were singing or speaking the same linguistic content. Overall, formant values decreased during singing compared to singing. This resulted in compression of the vowel space, with more overlapping vowel regions during singing. However, this was not consistent for all vowels and all singers. Differences between the modes are partially explained by known articulatory processes used during singing, such as larynx lowering. This may reflect the way that speakers balance communicative versus aesthetic concerns when articulating lyrics.
- 2018-06-01
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Bradley_SING_LinguisticResearch_2018.pdf -
Updated License Show ChangesLicense
- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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Published
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Updated
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Updated Publisher Identifier (DOI), Related URLs Show ChangesPublisher Identifier (DOI)Related URLs
10.17250/khisli.35.2.201806.006- doi.org10.17250/khisli.35.2.201806.006
https://doi.org/10.17250/khisli.35.2.201806.006
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Updated Publication Date Show ChangesPublication Date
2018-06-01- 2018-06