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Acoustics of the Vowel – Preliminaries

Materials (Digital Version)

Dieter Maurer



Content

It seems as if the fundamentals of how we produce vowels and how they are acoustically represented have been clarified: we phonate and articulate. Using our vocal chords, we produce a vocal sound or noise which is then shaped into a specific vowel sound by the resonances of the pharyngeal, oral, and nasal cavities, that is, the vocal tract. Accordingly, the acoustic description of vowels relates to vowel-specific patterns of relative energy maxima in the sound spectra, known as patterns of formants.

The intellectual and empirical reasoning presented in this treatise, however, gives rise to scepticism with respect to this understanding of the sound of the vowel. The reflections and materials presented provide reason to argue that, up to now, a comprehensible theory of the acoustics of the voice and of voiced speech sounds is lacking, and consequently, no satisfying understanding of vowels as an achievement and particular formal accomplishment of the voice exists. Thus, the question of the acoustics of the vowel—and with it the question of the acoustics of the voice itself—proves to be an unresolved fundamental problem.


The book

The treatise entitled "Acoustics of the Vowel — Preliminaries" is published by Peter Lang Verlag, Bern/Frankfurt a.M., as an open access eBook (ISBN 978-3-0351-0912-2) as well as in printed form (ISBN 978-3-0343-2031-3).
The treatise is published as volume 12 of the series subTexte, edited by Anton Rey, Institute for the Performing Arts and Film, Zurich University of the Arts.

For the eBook please refer to:
>> Link to the eBook (open access, PDF)

Also available on OAPEN:CH:
>> Link to the eBook (open access, PDF on OAPEN.CH)

For the print version please refer to:
>> Link to the printed book (publisher)

For the subTexte series please refer to:
>> Link to subTexte

The present online version of the materials

The treatise is divided into a main body and the two sections Materials and Experiments. This online presentation is a replication and extension of the Materials section. For details, please refer to the Introduction.
>> Link to the Introduction

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank Christian d'Heureuse for adapting the M.A.T. software for this presentation.

Contact

Dieter Maurer, Prof. PhD
Zurich University of the Arts
Institute for the Performing Arts and Film
dieter.maurer@zhdk.ch

Research website
www.phones-and-phonemes.org

Website of the Institute for the Performing Arts and Film, Zurich University of the Arts
www.zhdk.ch/?ipf