The function of F0-peak delay in Japanese

I. INTRODUCTION There is a perceptual difference between male and female speech in fundamental frequency (F0) and, less significantly, in formant frequencies. Many, naturally, assume that these characteristics are physiologically determined to a great extent, and thus speakers exert little control over these characteristics in their normal utterances. F0 is certainly influenced by anatomical differences between male and female speakers. Nonetheless, observed F0 differences are much greater than those that can be attributed to anatomy: F0 is also manipulated by speakers to display their demeanor, for example in conforming to social norms. The present study reports on one such F0 manipulation, the paralinguistic function of F0-peak delay in Japanese. We claim that F0 in Japanese is not only modified to indicate accentual distinctions but can also be used to convey femininity. In this paper, we first provide a brief review of previous studies on male-female speech differences, and then explain how Japanese pitch accent is realized. Section II reports on our experiment to test the hypothesis that F0-peak delay and femininity are associated. Section III discusses the similarities and differences in functions of F0-peak delay between pitch-accent and intonation languages.