However, the larynx can be raised by a system of muscles which attach the larynx to the tongue and jaw (effectively shortening the vocal tract), or lowered by a system of muscles which attach the larynx to the sternum and clavicles (effectively lengthening the vocal tract 24). Shorter speakers have shorter vocal tracts that amplify high-frequency components in their voice, while taller speakers have longer vocal tracts that amplify low-frequency components of the voice 22, 23. While dynamic changes to the shape of vocal tract resonant cavities, and their corresponding formants, are the primary carriers of the phonemic content of speech, the overall size of the vocal tract also varies between individuals.
Articulatory movements shape resonant cavities of varying sizes in the vocal tract, which in turn selectively filter or amplify particular frequency bands in the acoustical signal that listeners perceive as a voice 21. The space between the larynx and the lips is highly labile and changes shape to form the various phonemes of speech 19, 20. Vocal size is conveyed by the properties of the vocal tract as an acoustical resonator.
A shape of voice 2 professional#
Favourable evaluations along these traits can impact social and professional outcomes across the lifespan 15, 16, 17, 18.
In social interactions, vocal size exaggeration contributes to the impression of higher-order social traits such as authority 8, social dominance 9, 10, 11, and masculinity/femininity 4, 5, 8, 12, 13, 14. Speakers can volitionally modulate the acoustics of their voice 4, 5, 6 to modulate their apparent size 7. Among these percepts is an estimate of the speaker’s body size: taller people tend to have longer vocal tracts, and this can be detected from the spacing of formant frequencies in their voice. Listeners attribute a range of traits to speakers based on even very brief exposure to a person’s voice 2, 3. The most obvious of these signals are speech, song, and the expression of emotion, but the voice also carries socially relevant information about the person to whom it belongs 1.
The voice is a common carrier for a wide range of communicative signals. Further research is needed to determine whether speakers who are effective at vocal size exaggeration are better able to manipulate their social environment, and whether this variation is an inherited quality of the individual, or the result of life experiences such as vocal training. Individual differences in this ability were marked, spanning from nearly incapable to nearly perfect vocal modulation, and was consistent across modalities of measurement. We analysed the veridical size of speakers’ vocal tracts using real-time magnetic resonance imaging as they volitionally modulated their voice to sound larger or smaller, corresponding changes to the size implied by the acoustics of their voice, and their influence over the perceptions of listeners. However, some speakers may be able to manipulate listeners by modulating the shape and size of their vocal tract to exaggerate certain characteristics of their voice. The human voice carries socially relevant information such as how authoritative, dominant, and attractive the speaker sounds.
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