I remember listening to isolated formants in grad school, and they don't sound like speech at all -- more like chirps or whistles (especially formant transitions). So I don't think they're perceived as different in loudness.
But yes, that energy concentration means that (relatively) there's greater compression/rarefaction at those frequencies. But I don't think it produces a difference in perceptual loudness -- greater basilar distortion at those frequencies (probably... or sometimes), but remember there's a whole lot of other vibrations going on at the same time. m -- Marc Carter, PhD Associate Professor and Chair Department of Psychology College of Arts & Sciences Baker University -- > -----Original Message----- > From: DeVolder Carol L [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 8:56 AM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: RE: [tips] question on speech perception > > So, if I think of it this way, Mike and Marc (or anyone for > that matter), are the bands of concentrated energy related to > intensity? And then perceptually to loudness but too brief to > hear individual vibrations? > > I think I'd like to take a course--or at least buy the book. :) > > Carol > > > Carol L. DeVolder, Ph.D. > Professor of Psychology > Chair, Department of Psychology > St. Ambrose University > 518 West Locust Street > Davenport, Iowa 52803 > > Phone: 563-333-6482 > e-mail: [email protected] > web: http://web.sau.edu/psychology/psychfaculty/cdevolder.htm > > The contents of this message are confidential and may not be > shared with anyone without permission of the sender. > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Marc Carter [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Tue 4/27/2010 8:45 AM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: RE: [tips] question on speech perception > > > Another way to think of formants is as energy concentrated at > certain frequencies -- that's how I think of them. As Mike > says, the resonant properties of the shaped vocal tract > concentrate energy at certain frequencies more than others; > in a spectrogram you see them as darker bands of energy. > > I don't know if that helps or not, but if you start with > thinking about something like Fourier analysis wherein you > break a complex waveform into frequency components that have > differing amounts of energy, formants are components of the > complex speech waveform that have more energy in them. > > I also second the recommendation for "The Speech Chain." The > first few chapters of Yost's "Fundamentals of Hearing" > explain the speech signal pretty well -- and how we take it > apart for analysis (which is where formants come from). > > m > > -- > Marc Carter, PhD > Associate Professor and Chair > Department of Psychology > College of Arts & Sciences > Baker University > -- > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Mike Palij [mailto:[email protected]] > > Sent: Monday, April 26, 2010 9:42 PM > > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > > Cc: Mike Palij > > Subject: re: [tips] question on speech perception > > > > On Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:13:37 -0700, Carol L DeVolder wrote: > > >Dear TIPSters, > > >I have tried and tried to understand the concept of formants, but > > >something isn't clicking in my head. Can anyone explain it to me? > > >I can recite the definition, but I just can't seem to > > picture what they > > >represent. I've done a fair amount of reading and it still > > hasn't helped. > > >I think I'm stuck on the idea of frequency over time and I > > need to get > > >beyond that. > > >Thanks for any help anyone can provide. > > > > I'm not sure how helpful this will be but one way of thinking of > > formants is that they represent resonant properties of the vocal > > tract. > > That is, formants represent frequencies that are reinforced by the > > configuration of the vocal tract. A speech sound can then be > > characterized by its fundamental frequency and the formants > that the > > vocal tract supports. Changing the configuration of the > vocal tract > > changes the formants because the resonance properties of > the tract are > > now different. > > > > One useful source on this and related concepts is Denes & Pinson's > > "The Speech Chain", the 2nd edition of which is available on > > books.google.com, see: > > http://books.google.com/books?id=ZMTm3nlDfroC&pg=PA153&dq=%22s > > peech+perception%22+denes+pinson&cd=1#v=onepage&q=formants&f=false > > or > > http://tinyurl.com/3ae9wsx > > > > There is an entry on Wikipedia for speech perception which provides > > some coverage of formants and their properties but I think Denes & > > Pinson is probably a better source; see: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_perception > > > > -Mike Palij > > New York University > > [email protected] > > > > > > > > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13029.76c7c563b32ad9d8d09c72 > > a2d17c90e1&n=T&l=tips&o=2222 > > or send a blank email to > > [email protected] > > tburg.edu > > > > The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments > thereto ("e-mail") is sent by Baker University ("BU") and is > intended to be confidential and for the use of only the > individual or entity named above. The information may be > protected by federal and state privacy and disclosures acts > or other legal rules. If the reader of this message is not > the intended recipient, you are notified that retention, > dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is > strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in > error please immediately notify Baker University by email > reply and immediately and permanently delete this e-mail > message and any attachments thereto. Thank you. > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=12990.f9c1b5bf25d49031367434 > c598ee9250&n=T&l=tips&o=2232 > or send a blank email to > [email protected] > tburg.edu > > The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto ("e-mail") is sent by Baker University ("BU") and is intended to be confidential and for the use of only the individual or entity named above. 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