Speech Frequency and Duration Measures as a Function of Chronologic Age

Fundamental frequency and duration measures were obtained on 175 normal male subjects whose ages were evenly distributed throughout the range 20–89 yr. It was found that the fundamental frequency contours by age decade show a steady but gradual lowering from the 20‐yr‐olds at 120 Hz to the lowest mean frequency of 107 Hz in the 40–49‐yr‐old group. Average frequency then raised steadily throughout the 50‐, 60‐, and 70‐yr decades to reach a high in the 80‐yr‐old group of 146 Hz. Mean oral reading rate showed a steady increased duration with increased chronologic age, with the 80‐yr‐old group having a mean duration 50% greater than the mean for the 20‐yr‐olds. The increase in duration was principally a function of the increase in silent periods during the utterance or in intraphrasal pauses. For both frequency and duration measures the greatest variability was found in the 80‐yr‐olds with some of these older subjects having frequency and duration values similar to the young adult subjects.