16−17-vuotiaiden suomalaisnuorten puheäänen korkeus

Fundamental frequency (F0) in speech is mainly defined by anatomical and biologicalfactors, but it is also affected by different socio-cultural and behavioral models of voiceusage. Unoptimal voice usage models can lead to voice disorders. This research examinedthe F0 of 16−17-year-old Finnish native speakers in reading and in spontaneous speech.In addition, the F0 in a sustained vowel as well as the reading speed was measured, and thestudents were asked to evaluate their own F0 on a VAS scale. The results were comparedwith Aino Sallinen-Kuparinen’s (1985) study, which stated that the speakers’ educationalbackground and sex influence their F0.The speaking behaviour of Finnish students seems to have changed during the past 30years: in the original study, girls attending a vocational school used a higher F0 than girlsattending a high school. In addition, the speakers’ sex contributed to some differences inthe students’ speaking behaviour. In the present study, neither the educational backgroundnor the speaker’s sex had an effect on the pitch level. The girls’ F0 was 216 Hz in readingand 213 Hz in spontaneous speech. The boys had a low F0 compared to internationalstudies: 101 Hz in reading and 97 Hz in spontaneous speech. Possibly the boys in this ageare affected by a social norm, which values a low speaking fundamental frequency. Low F0was preferred also in the self-evaluation: the majority of the test persons estimated theirown F0 to be lower than average.