Effect of Language on Voice Quality: An Acoustic Study of Bilingual Speakers of Mandarin Chinese and English.
Shi Zhu, Sibie Chong, Yang Chen and 2 others
PMID 35764052WHAT IT FOUND
Acoustic differences between Mandarin and English depend on the speaker's native language.
Native Mandarin speakers showed higher jitter and shimmer in Mandarin, while native English speakers showed higher shimmer in English. Pitch varied by language only for English speakers.
Key findings
01Native Mandarin speakers showed significantly greater jitter and shimmer when speaking Mandarin compared to English, whereas native English speakers showed greater shimmer when speaking English.
02Fundamental frequency (sF0) was significantly higher in Mandarin than in English when spoken by native English speakers, but there was no significant difference for native Mandarin speakers.
03Mean spectral energy, a measure of laryngeal tension, was significantly higher in Mandarin than in English for native Mandarin speakers, but not for native English speakers.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample size was small, particularly for the native English speaker group (n=14), which limits generalizability. Language proficiency was assessed subjectively by investigators rather than using a standardized tool. The study included only two specific language pairs (Mandarin/English) and ethnicities, so findings may not apply to other languages or bilingual profiles. Participants were young adults (20-34 years), so results may not extend to older populations or children.
Declared interests
The corresponding author is an Associate Editor of the journal publishing the article. The study was supported by the Education Faculty Research Fund at the University of Hong Kong.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret higher jitter or shimmer values in a Mandarin-speaking patient as evidence of voice disorder without comparing them to the patient's English speech or language-specific norms. The study showed these measures naturally increase when speakers use their native language.