The spectral features of /s/ and /ʃ/ carry important sociophonetic information regarding a speaker's gender. Often, gender is misclassified as a binary of male or female, but this excludes people who may identify as transgender or nonbinary. In this study, we use a more expansive definition of gender to investigate the acoustics (duration and spectral moments) of /s/ and /ʃ/ across cisgender men, cisgender women, and transfeminine speakers in voiced and whispered speech and the relationship between spectral measures and transfeminine gender expression. We examined /s/ and /ʃ/ productions in words from 35 speakers (11 cisgender men, 17 cisgender women, 7 transfeminine speakers) and 34 speakers (11 cisgender men, 15 cisgender women, 8 transfeminine speakers), respectively. In general, /s/ and /ʃ/ center of gravity was highest in productions by cisgender women, followed by transfeminine speakers, and then cisgender men speakers. There were no other gender-related differences. Within transfeminine speakers, /s/ and /ʃ/ center of gravity and skewness were not related to the time proportion expressing their feminine spectrum gender or their Trans Women Voice Questionnaire scores. Taken together, the acoustics of /s/ and /ʃ/ may signal gender group identification but may not account for within-gender variation in transfeminine gender expression.
REFERENCES
1.
Adams
,
N.
,
Pearce
,
R.
,
Veale
,
J.
,
Radix
,
A.
,
Castro
,
D.
,
Sarkar
,
A.
, and
Thom
,
K. C.
(2017
). “
Guidance and ethical considerations for undertaking transgender health research and institutional review boards adjudicating this research
,” Transgender Health
2
(1
), 165
–175
.2.
Adler
,
R. K.
,
Hirsch
,
S.
, and
Pickering
,
J.
(2018
). Voice and Communication Therapy for the Transgender/Gender Diverse Client: A Comprehensive Clinical Guide
(
Plural Publishing
,
San Diego, CA
).3.
Avery
,
J. D.
, and
Liss
,
J. M.
(1996
). “
Acoustic characteristics of less‐masculine‐sounding male speech
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
99
(6
), 3738
–3748
.4.
Bates
,
D.
,
Maechler
,
M.
,
Bolker
,
B.
, and
Walker
,
S.
(2015
). “
Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4
,” J. Stat. Softw.
67
(1
), 1
–48
.5.
Bem
,
S. L.
(1993
). The Lenses of Gender: Transforming the Debate on Sexual Inequality
(
Yale University Press
,
New Haven, CT
).6.
Ben-Shachar
,
M. S.
,
Makowski
,
D.
, and
Ludecke
,
D.
(2020
). “
Compute and interpret indices of effect size
,” CRAN, https://github.com/easystats/effectsize (Last viewed 11/7/2023).7.
Boersma
,
P.
, and
Weenink
,
D.
(2017
). “
Praat: Doing phonetics by computer
” [computer program], http://www.praat.org/ (Last viewed 12/13/2017).8.
Bultynck
,
C.
,
Pas
,
C.
,
Defreyne
,
J.
,
Cosyns
,
M.
,
den Heijer
,
M.
, and
T'Sjoen
,
G.
(2017
). “
Self‐perception of voice in transgender persons during cross‐sex hormone therapy
,” Laryngoscope
127
(12
), 2796
–2804
.9.
Butler
,
J.
(1988
). “
Performative acts and gender constitution: An essay in phenomenology and feminist theory
,” Theatre J.
40
(4
), 519
–531
.10.
Butler
,
J.
(2004
). Undoing Gender
(
Psychology Press
,
East Sussex, UK
).11.
Calder
,
J.
(2019
). “
The fierceness of fronted /s/: Linguistic rhematization through visual transformation
,” Lang. Soc.
48
(1
), 31
–64
.12.
Calder
,
J.
, and
King
,
S.
(2020
). “
Intersections between race, place, and gender in the production of/s
,” Univ. Penn. Work. Papers Ling.
26
(2
), 31
–38
.13.
Calder
,
J.
, and
King
,
S.
(2022
). “
Whose gendered voices matter?: Race and gender in the articulation of /s/ in Bakersfield, California
,” J. Sociolinguistics
26
(5
), 604
–623
.14.
Carew
,
L.
,
Dacakis
,
G.
, and
Oates
,
J. M.
(2007
). “
The effectiveness of oral resonance therapy on the perception of femininity of voice in male-to-female transsexuals
,” J. Voice
21
, 591
–603
.15.
Cartei
,
V.
,
Garnham
,
A.
,
Oakhill
,
J.
,
Banerjee
,
R.
,
Roberts
,
L.
, and
Reby
,
D.
(2019
). “
Children can control the expression of masculinity and femininity through the voice
,” R. Soc. Open Sci.
6
(7
), 190656
.16.
Christopher
,
S.
,
Watts
,
V.
,
McCormick
,
A. K.
, and
Young
,
S.
(2008
). “
Building and maintaining trust in a community-based participatory research partnership
,” Am. J. Public Health
98
(8
), 1398
–1406
.17.
Cohen
,
J.
(1992
). “
Quantitative methods in psychology: A power primer
,” Psychol. Bull.
112
(1
), 155
–159
.18.
Cosyns
,
M.
,
Van Borsel
,
J.
,
Wierckx
,
K.
,
Dedecker
,
D.
,
Van de Peer
,
F.
,
Daelman
,
T.
,
Laenen
,
S.
, and
T'Sjoen
,
G.
(2014
). “
Voice in female-to-male transsexual persons after long-term androgen therapy
,” Laryngoscope
124
(6
), 1409
–1414
.19.
Dacakis
,
G.
,
Oates
,
J. M.
, and
Douglas
,
J. M.
(2016
). “
Further evidence of the construct validity of the transsexual voice questionnaire (TVQMtF) using principal components analysis
,” J. Voice
31
, 142
–148
.20.
Dacakis
,
G.
,
Oates
,
J. M.
, and
Douglas
,
J.
(2017
). “
Associations between the Transsexual Voice Questionnaire (TVQMtF) and self-report of voice femininity and acoustic voice measures
,” Intl. J. Lang. Comm. Disor.
52
(6
), 831
–838
.21.
Davies
,
S.
, and
Goldberg
,
J. M.
(2006
). “
Clinical aspects of transgender speech feminization and masculinization
,” Int. J. Transgenderism
9
(3/4
), 167
–196
.22.
Davies
,
S.
,
Papp
,
V. G.
, and
Antoni
,
C.
(2015
). “
Voice and communication change for gender nonconforming individuals: Giving voice to the person inside
,” Int. J. Transgenderism
16
(3
), 117
–159
.23.
Eklund
,
I.
, and
Traunmüller
,
H.
(1997
). “
Comparative study of male and female whispered and phonated versions of the long vowels of Swedish
,” Phonetica
54
(1
), 1
–21
.24.
Flipsen
,
P.
,
Shriberg
,
L.
,
Weismer
,
G.
,
Karlsson
,
H.
, and
McSweeny
,
J.
(1999
). “
Acoustic characteristics of /s/ in adolescents
,” J. Speech. Lang. Hear. Res.
42
(3
), 663
–677
.25.
Forrest
,
K.
,
Weismer
,
G.
,
Milenkovic
,
P.
, and
Dougall
,
R. N.
(1988
). “
Statistical analysis of word‐initial voiceless obstruents: Preliminary data
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
84
(1
), 115
–123
.26.
Fox
,
R. A.
, and
Nissen
,
S. L.
(2005
). “
Sex-related acoustic changes in voiceless English fricatives
,” J. Speech. Lang. Hear. Res.
48
(4
), 753
–765
.27.
Fuchs
,
S.
,
Toda
,
M.
, and
Zygis
,
M.
(2010
). “
Do differences in male versus female/s/reflect biological or sociophonetic factors
,” in Turbulent Sounds: An Interdisciplinary Guide
, edited by
M.
Zygis
(
De Gruyter Mouton
,
Berlin, Germany
), Vol. 21, pp. 281
–302
.28.
Galupo
,
M. P.
,
Pulice-Farrow
,
L.
, and
Pehl
,
E.
(2021
). “ ‘
There is nothing to do about it’: Nonbinary individuals experience of gender dysphoria
,” Transgender Health
6
(2
), 101
–110
.29.
Gordon
,
M.
,
Barthmaier
,
P.
, and
Sands
,
K.
(2002
). “
A cross-linguistic acoustic study of voiceless fricatives
,” J. Int. Phon. Assoc.
32
(2
), 141
–174
.30.
Hazenberg
,
E.
(2016
). “
Walking the straight and narrow: Linguistic choice and gendered presentation
,” Gender Lang.
10
(2
), 270
–294
.31.
Heffernan
,
K.
(2004
). “
Evidence from HNR that /s/ is a social marker of gender
,” Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics, Vol.
23
, https://twpl.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/twpl/article/view/6208 (Last viewed 11/7/2023).32.
Hodges-Simeon
,
C. R.
,
Grail
,
G. P. O.
,
Albert
,
G.
,
Groll
,
M. D.
,
Stepp
,
C. E.
,
Carré
,
J. M.
, and
Arnocky
,
S. A.
(2021
). “
Testosterone therapy masculinizes speech and gender presentation in transgender men
,” Sci. Rep.
11
(1
), 3494
.33.
Holt
,
Y.
(2022
). “
Reflecting on the role of gender and race in speech-language pathology
,” Perspect. ASHA Spec. Int. Groups
7
(6
), 2158
–2168
.34.
Hosbach-Cannon
,
C. J.
,
Miholics
,
K.
, and
Zendano
,
A.
(2022
). “
Self-report of voice model usage within the nonbinary and gender-nonconforming populations
,” Perspect. ASHA Spec. Int. Groups
7
, 1750
–1756
.35.
Houle
,
N.
(2021
). “
Influence of stimuli and task on auditory-perception of vocal gender and femininity/masculinity
,”
Ph.D.
thesis, New York University, New York, NY.36.
Houle
,
N.
, and
Levi
,
S. V.
(2020
). “
Acoustic differences between voiced and whispered speech in gender diverse speakers
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
148
(6
), 4002
–4013
.37.
Ito
,
T.
,
Takeda
,
K.
, and
Itakura
,
F.
(2005
). “
Analysis and recognition of whispered speech
,” Speech Commun.
45
, 139
–152
.38.
Jagosh
,
J.
,
Bush
,
P. L.
,
Salsberg
,
J.
,
Macaulay
,
A. C.
,
Greenhalgh
,
T.
,
Wong
,
G.
,
Cargo
,
M.
,
Green
,
L. W.
,
Herbert
,
C. P.
, and
Pluye
,
P.
(2015
). “
A realist evaluation of community-based participatory research: Partnership synergy, trust building and related ripple effects
,” BMC Public Health
15
(1
), 725
.39.
Jongman
,
A.
,
Wayland
,
R.
, and
Wong
,
S.
(2000
). “
Acoustic characteristics of English fricatives
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
108
(3
), 1252
–1263
.40.
Jovičić
,
S. T.
, and
Šarić
,
Z.
(2008
). “
Acoustic analysis of consonants in whispered speech
,” J. Voice
22
, 263
–274
.41.
Kahane
,
J. C.
(1982
). “
Growth of the human prepubertal and pubertal larynx
,” J. Speech. Lang. Hear. Res.
25
(3
), 446
–455
.42.
Kawitzky
,
D.
, and
McAllister
,
T.
(2020
). “
The effect of formant biofeedback on the feminization of voice in transgender women
,” J. Voice
34
(1
), 53
–67
.43.
Kennedy
,
E.
, and
Thibeault
,
S. L.
(2020
). “
Voice-gender incongruence and voice health information-seeking behaviors in the transgender community
,” Am. J. Speech. Lang. Pathol.
29
(3
), 1563
–1573
.44.
Lang
,
C.
, and
Kuhnle
,
U.
(2008
). “
Intersexuality and alternative gender categories in non-Western cultures
,” Horm. Res. Paediatr.
69
(4
), 240
–250
.45.
Lenth
,
R. V.
(2018
). “
Estimated marginal means, aka Least-squares Means
,” R Package Version 1.2.46.
Leyns
,
C.
,
Corthals
,
P.
,
Cosyns
,
M.
,
Papeleu
,
T.
,
Van Borsel
,
J.
,
Morsomme
,
D.
,
T'Sjoen
G.
, and
D'Haeseleer
,
E.
(2021
). “
Acoustic and perceptual effects of articulation exercises in transgender women
,” J. Voice.
(published online).47.
Li
,
F.
,
Rendall
,
D.
,
Vasey
,
P. L.
,
Kinsman
,
M.
,
Ward-Sutherland
,
A.
, and
Diano
,
G.
(2016
). “
The development of sex/gender-specific /s/ and its relationship to gender identity in children and adolescents
,” J. Phon.
57
, 59
–70
.48.
Mack
,
S.
, and
Munson
,
B.
(2012
). “
The influence of /s/ quality on ratings of men's sexual orientation: Explicit and implicit measures of the ‘gay lisp’ stereotype
,” J. Phon.
40
(1
), 198
–212
.49.
McGuire
,
J. K.
,
Beek
,
T. F.
,
Catalpa
,
J. M.
, and
Steensma
,
T. D.
(2019
). “
The genderqueer identity (GQI) scale: Measurement and validation of four distinct subscales with trans and LGBQ clinical and community samples in two countries
,” Int. J. Transgender
20
(2-3
), 289
–304
.50.
Merritt
,
B.
(2023
). “
Speech beyond the binary: Some acoustic-phonetic and auditory-perceptual characteristics of non-binary speakers
,” JASA Express Lett.
3
(3
), 035206
.51.
Muehlenhard
,
C.
, and
Peterson
,
Z.
(2011
). “
Distinguishing between sex and gender: History, current conceptualizations, and implications
,” Sex Roles
64
(11-12
), 791
–803
.52.
Munson
,
B.
, and
Babel
,
M.
(2019
). “
The phonetics of sex and gender
,” in The Routledge Handbook of Phonetics
(
Taylor and Francis
,
New York
), pp. 499
–525
.53.
Munson
,
B.
,
Lackas
,
N.
, and
Koeppe
,
K.
(2022
). “
Individual differences in the development of gendered speech in preschool children: Evidence from a longitudinal study
,” J. Speech. Lang. Hear. Res.
65
(4
), 1311
–1330
.54.
Munson
,
B.
,
McDonald
,
E. C.
,
DeBoe
,
N. L.
, and
White
,
A. R.
(2006
). “
The acoustic and perceptual bases of judgments of women and men's sexual orientation from read speech
,” J. Phon.
34
, 202
–240
.55.
Nittrouer
,
S.
(1995
). “
Children learn separate aspects of speech production at different rates: Evidence from spectral moments
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
97
(1
), 520
–530
.56.
Novais Valente Junior
,
C.
, and
Mesquita de Medeiros
,
A.
(2020
). “
Voice and gender incongruence: Relationship between vocal self-perception and mental health of trans women
,” J. Voice
36
, 808
–813
.57.
Perkell
,
J. S.
,
Matthies
,
M. L.
,
Tiede
,
M.
,
Lane
,
H.
,
Zandipour
,
M.
,
Marrone
,
N.
,
Stockmann
,
E.
, and
Guenther
,
F. H.
(2004
). “
The distinctness of speakers’ /s/—/∫/ contrast is related to their auditory discrimination and use of an articulatory saturation effect
,” J. Speech. Lang. Hear. Res.
47
(6
), 1259
–1269
.58.
Podesva
,
R. J.
, and
Van Hofwegen
,
J.
(2014
). “
How conservatism and normative gender constrain variation in inland California: The case of/s
,” Univ. Penn. Work. Papers Ling.
20
(2
), 129
–137
.59.
Polderman
,
T. J.
,
Kreukels
,
B. P.
,
Irwig
,
M. S.
,
Beach
,
L.
,
Chan
,
Y.-M.
,
Derks
,
E. M.
,
Esteva
,
I.
,
Ehrenfeld
,
J.
,
Den Heijer
,
M.
,
Posthuma
,
D.
,
Raynor
,
L.
,
Tishelman
,
A.
, and
Davis
,
L. K.
, on behalf of the International Gender Diversity Genomics Consortium (2018
). “
The biological contributions to gender identity and gender diversity: Bringing data to the table
,” Behav. Genet.
48
(2
), 95
–108
.60.
Reidy
,
P.
(2013
). “
An introduction to random processes for the spectral analysis of speech data
,” Work. Papers Ling.
60
, 67
–116
.61.
Ristori
,
J.
,
Cocchetti
,
C.
,
Romani
,
A.
,
Mazzoli
,
F.
,
Vignozzi
,
L.
,
Maggi
,
M.
, and
Fisher
,
A. D.
(2020
). “
Brain sex differences related to gender identity development: Genes or hormones?
,” Int. J. Mol. Sci.
21
(6
), 2123
.62.
Romeo
,
R.
,
Hazan
,
V.
, and
Pettinato
,
M.
(2013
). “
Developmental and gender-related trends of intra-talker variability in consonant production
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
134
(5
), 3781
–3792
.63.
64.
Scandurra
,
C.
,
Mezza
,
F.
,
Maldonato
,
N. M.
,
Bottone
,
M.
,
Bochicchio
,
V.
,
Valerio
,
P.
, and
Vitelli
,
R.
(2019
). “
Health of non-binary and genderqueer people: A systematic review
,” Front. Psychol.
10
, 1453
.65.
Serano
,
J.
(2007
). Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity
(
Seal Press
,
New York
).66.
Shadle
,
C. H.
(1990
). “
Articulatory-acoustic relationships in fricative consonants
,” in Speech Production and Speech Modelling
(
Springer
, Berlin), pp. 187
–209
.67.
Shadle
,
C. H.
(2023
). “
Alternatives to moments for characterizing fricatives: Reconsidering Forrest et al. (1988)
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
153
(2
), 1412
–1426
.68.
Shadle
,
C. H.
, and
Scully
,
C.
(1995
). “
An articulatory-acoustic-aerodynamic analysis of [s] in VCV sequences
,” J. Phon.
23
(1
), 53
–66
.69.
Sharifzadeh
,
H. R.
,
McLoughlin
,
I. V.
, and
Russell
,
M. J.
(2012
). “
A comprehensive vowel space for whispered speech
,” J. Voice
26
(2
), e49
–e56
.70.
St. Pierre
,
J.
, and
St. Pierre
,
C.
(2018
). “
Governing the voice: A critical history of speech-language pathology
,” Foucault Stud.
24
, 151
–184
.71.
Stuart-Smith
,
J.
(2007
). “Empirical evidence for gendered speech production: /s/ in Glaswegian.”72.
Stuart-Smith
,
J.
(2020
). “
Changing perspectives on /s/ and gender over time in Glasgow
,” Ling. Vanguard
6
(s1
), 20180064
.73.
T'Sjoen
,
G.
,
Arcelus
,
J.
,
Gooren
,
L.
,
Klink
,
D. T.
, and
Tangpricha
,
V.
(2019
). “
Endocrinology of transgender medicine
,” Endocrine Rev.
40
(1
), 97
–117
.74.
Yoshinaga
,
T.
,
Nozaki
,
K.
, and
Wada
,
S.
(2017
). “
Effects of tongue position in the simplified vocal tract model of Japanese sibilant fricatives /s/ and /ʃ/
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
141
(3
), EL314
–EL318
.75.
Ziegler
,
A.
,
Henke
,
T.
,
Wiedrick
,
J.
, and
Helou
,
L. B.
(2018
). “
Effectiveness of testosterone therapy for masculinizing voice in transgender patients: A meta-analytic review
,” Int. J. Transgenderism
19
(1
), 25
–45
.76.
Zimman
,
L.
(2013
). “
Hegemonic masculinity and the variability of gay-sounding speech: The perceived sexuality of transgender men
,” J. Lang. Sexuality
2
(1
), 1
–39
.77.
Zimman
,
L.
(2017
). “
Variability in /s/ among transgender speakers: Evidence for a socially grounded account of gender and sibilants
,” Linguistics
55
(5
), 993
–1019
.78.
Żygis
,
M.
,
Pape
,
D.
,
Koenig
,
L. L.
,
Jaskuła
,
M.
, and
Jesus
,
L. M. T.
(2017
). “
Segmental cues to intonation of statements and polar questions in whispered, semi-whispered and normal speech modes
,” J. Phon.
63
, 53
–74
.© 2023 Acoustical Society of America.
2023
Acoustical Society of America
You do not currently have access to this content.