Perceptual Experiment on Number Production for Speaker Identification

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The acoustic parameters of nine Korean numbers were analyzed by Praat, a speech analysis software, and synthesized by en ynPPC, a Matt formant synthesizer. The overall intensity, pitch and ferrnant values of the numbers were modified dynamically by a step of 1 dB, 1 Hz and 2.5 respectively. The study explored the sensitivity of listeners to changes in the three acoustic parameters. Twelve subjects (male and female) listened to 390 pairs of synthesized numbers and judged whether the given pair sounded the same or different. Results showed that subjects perceived the same sound quality within the range of 6.6 dB of intensity variation, 10.5 Hz of pitch variation and 5,9 of the fiat three formant variations. The male and female groups showed almost the same perceptual ranges, Also, an asymmetrical structure of high and low boundary was observed. The ranges may be applicable to the development of a speaker identification system while the method of synthesis modification may apply to its evaluation data.