VOICE QUALITY ANALYSIS OF MALE AND FEMALE SPANISH SPEAKERS

This paper describes the results of an acoustical analysis which compares the quality of female and male voices of Spanish speakers. The analysis is a pilot study based on a similar one presented by Klatt and Klatt (1990). Results indicate that the Spanish female voice does differ in some respects from Spanish males; however, to a lesser extent than what was found by Klatt and Klatt. The breathy quality found in Spanish females is not too different from Spanish males, which may support the assumption that breathiness may be a learned, cultural behaviour.