The Roles of Vowel Fronting, Lengthening, and Listener Variables in the Perception of Vocal Femininity

Conclusions Fronting (except for / ʊ/) and lengthening of lax vowels make words sound more feminine for Southern listeners, which has implications for clients who wish to modify the perception of femininity invoked by their speech. The relative strength of the gender and regional associations of these vowel characteristics should be further examined across dialects.
Source: Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Source Type: research