Identification of synthetic vowels based on selected vocal tract area functions

The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which synthetic vowel samples based on previously reported vocal tract area functions of eight speakers could be accurately identified by listeners. Vowels were synthesized with a wave-reflection type of vocal tract model coupled to a voice source. A particular vowel was generated by specifying an area function that had been derived from previous magnetic resonance imaging based measurements. The vowel samples were presented to ten listeners in a forced choice paradigm in which they were asked to identify the vowel. Results indicated that the vowels [i], [ae], and [u] were identified most accurately for all of speakers. The identification errors of the other vowels were typically due to confusions with adjacent vowels.