Perceptual and acoustical differences between phonated and whispered plosives in syllabic initial position

The purpose of this study was to subjectively and objectively study the differences between phonated and whispered plosive-vowel syllables. In subjective identification place feature was found to be independent of the mode of speech production, but voicing feature was found to be dependent on the speech mode. A possible explanation is that most of the place cues are independent of the vocal folds' vibration or onset of voicing for place feature, whereas most of the voicing cues depend on the vocal folds' vibration or onset of voicing. Objective spectrographical results were discussed. The highest and the lowest levels in the phonated mode were formant one (Fl) and formant four (F4), respectively, whereas the highest and the lowest levels in the whispered mode were different according to the vowel context. The range of level was wider in the phonated mode than in the whispered mode and also higher in the voiced than in the voiceless plosive vowel syllables. Mode of speech production was related to ratios of formant frequencies, duration of vowel, frequency of the maximum level in the burst, rate of transition, onset frequency of Fl, and formant onset time. Voicing feature was related to ratios of formant frequencies, duration of vowel, frequency of the maximum level in the burst, rate of formant transition, onset frequency Fl, and formant onset time. Place feature was related to frequency of maximum level in the burst, rate of F2 transition and formant onset time. A study was suggested for further exploration in the voicing feature in the whispered speech mode.