Perceptions of Identity, Gender and Idiolect in Prosodically Altered Speech Using a Composite Model Approach

The paper describes a series of perceptual experiments in which the prosodic parameters F0, energy, voicing and timing of utterances were systematically altered and the resulting speech resynthesised for a group of listeners. Using the linear-prediction source/filter model of production composite neutral spectral models were composed from the speech of two or more speakers. Listener responses on the basis of perceived identity, gender and idiolect were correlated with the systematic alterations of the prosodic parameters. Perceptions of identity were found to be correlated with both the static and dynamic properties of all parameters, though listeners employed different cues for different speakers. Perceptions of gender were based solely on the mean value of F0. Perception of idiolect was found only to correlate with utterance duration: shorter duration utterances were perceived as more cultivated, while longer duration was perceived as broader.