A Comparative Acoustic Analysis of Tones in Final Particles Among Transgender Individuals

Abstract

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore and contrast the phonetic characteristics of tones in the final particles of speech among transgender individuals using acoustic analysis. Data were gathered from 10 transgender participants, divided into two groups: Male to Female (MTF) and Female to Male (FTM), with 5 individuals in each group. Five final particles were examined: /làʔ/, /rɔ̀k/, /dìʔ/, /náʔ/, and /wáʔ/, utilizing the Praat software for analysis. The findings revealed that: (1) three final particles (/làʔ/, /rɔ̀k/, and /dìʔ/) exhibited differing phonetic characteristics between the two transgender groups, while two (/náʔ/ and /wáʔ/) did not show significant differences in their fundamental frequency values; (2) the final particle /rɔ̀k/ demonstrated the broadest fundamental frequency range across both groups, although this range did not differ significantly among all particles; (3) the tone duration values indicated that the FTM group had longer durations compared to the MTF group for all final particles, with statistical significance found between the groups at p<0.05. These results suggest that gender factors influence tone duration but not the fundamental frequency or its range