Did vocal size exaggeration contribute to the origins of vocalic complexity?
Pisanski, Katarzyna ; Anikin, Andrey LU
and Reby, David
(2021)
In Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
377(1841).
- Abstract
- Vocal tract elongation, which uniformly lowers vocal tract resonances (formant frequencies) in animal vocalizations, has evolved independently in several vertebrate groups as a means for vocalizers to exaggerate their apparent body size. Here, we propose that smaller speech-like articulatory movements that alter only individual formants can serve a similar yet less energetically costly size-exaggerating function. To test this, we examine whether uneven formant spacing alters the perceived body size of vocalizers in synthesized human vowels and animal calls. Among six synthetic vowel patterns, those characterized by the lowest first and second formant (the vowel /u/ as in ‘boot’) are consistently perceived as produced by the largest... (More)
- Vocal tract elongation, which uniformly lowers vocal tract resonances (formant frequencies) in animal vocalizations, has evolved independently in several vertebrate groups as a means for vocalizers to exaggerate their apparent body size. Here, we propose that smaller speech-like articulatory movements that alter only individual formants can serve a similar yet less energetically costly size-exaggerating function. To test this, we examine whether uneven formant spacing alters the perceived body size of vocalizers in synthesized human vowels and animal calls. Among six synthetic vowel patterns, those characterized by the lowest first and second formant (the vowel /u/ as in ‘boot’) are consistently perceived as produced by the largest vocalizer. Crucially, lowering only one or two formants in animal-like calls also conveys the impression of a larger body size, and lowering the second and third formants simultaneously exaggerates perceived size to a similar extent as rescaling all formants. As the articulatory movements required for individual formant shifts are minor compared to full vocal tract extension, they represent a rapid and energetically efficient mechanism for acoustic size exaggeration. We suggest that, by favouring the evolution of uneven formant patterns in vocal communication, this deceptive strategy may have contributed to the origins of the phonemic diversification required for articulated speech.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Voice modulation: from origin and mechanism to social impact (Part II)’. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/485c0226-acff-4f42-a9aa-ffa57a259874
- author
- Pisanski, Katarzyna
; Anikin, Andrey
LU
and Reby, David
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- volume
- 377
- issue
- 1841
- article number
- 20200401
- pages
- 11 pages
- publisher
- Royal Society Publishing
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:34775821
- scopus:85119969726
- ISSN
- 1471-2970
- DOI
- 10.1098/rstb.2020.0401
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 485c0226-acff-4f42-a9aa-ffa57a259874
- date added to LUP
- 2021-11-15 19:01:42
- date last changed
- 2022-04-27 05:54:40
@article{485c0226-acff-4f42-a9aa-ffa57a259874,
abstract = {{Vocal tract elongation, which uniformly lowers vocal tract resonances (formant frequencies) in animal vocalizations, has evolved independently in several vertebrate groups as a means for vocalizers to exaggerate their apparent body size. Here, we propose that smaller speech-like articulatory movements that alter only individual formants can serve a similar yet less energetically costly size-exaggerating function. To test this, we examine whether uneven formant spacing alters the perceived body size of vocalizers in synthesized human vowels and animal calls. Among six synthetic vowel patterns, those characterized by the lowest first and second formant (the vowel /u/ as in ‘boot’) are consistently perceived as produced by the largest vocalizer. Crucially, lowering only one or two formants in animal-like calls also conveys the impression of a larger body size, and lowering the second and third formants simultaneously exaggerates perceived size to a similar extent as rescaling all formants. As the articulatory movements required for individual formant shifts are minor compared to full vocal tract extension, they represent a rapid and energetically efficient mechanism for acoustic size exaggeration. We suggest that, by favouring the evolution of uneven formant patterns in vocal communication, this deceptive strategy may have contributed to the origins of the phonemic diversification required for articulated speech.<br/><br/>This article is part of the theme issue ‘Voice modulation: from origin and mechanism to social impact (Part II)’.}},
author = {{Pisanski, Katarzyna and Anikin, Andrey and Reby, David}},
issn = {{1471-2970}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1841}},
publisher = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
series = {{Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences}},
title = {{Did vocal size exaggeration contribute to the origins of vocalic complexity?}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0401}},
doi = {{10.1098/rstb.2020.0401}},
volume = {{377}},
year = {{2021}},
}