Starting Characteristics of Speech Sounds

In view of its bearing on the design of ground-noise-reduction systems, a study was undertaken to determine how sudden or rapid are the increases in amplitude of the speech sounds that must be recorded in dialog. A large number of oscillograms were taken, a number of which are reproduced herewith. — The most important observation is that the human voice can start several of the vowel sounds in such a way that the first wave is from 40 to 80 per cent of the final amplitude, or, in other words, with a suddenness comparable to that of keying in an oscillator. However, this is rare, being for all practical purposes confined to a few of the more open vowel sounds, when not preceded by any consonant, and true only of certain individuals, depending on the manner of releasing the breath. Progressive build-up at rates which would carry the modulation from zero to 100 per cent in 0.05 second are frequent, while the great majority of syllables start more gradually than this.

Print ISSN

0097-5834

Published

1940-01

Content type

Original Research

DOI

10.5594/J00025