Speaker Identification in Whisper

Autores

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-7726.2017.1.26659

Palavras-chave:

Sociophonetics, Forensic phonetics, Whisper

Resumo

Sociophonetic methods and findings have value in application to real-life issues, including providing expert forensic evidence in legal cases. Forensic cases often involve voices which differ markedly from those typically encountered in laboratory or field studies. We assess the ability of people to identify familiar voices produced in whisper, a commonly used form of disguise. Members of a pre-existing social network were recorded speaking normally and in whisper. Speakers found it difficult to maintain whisper beyond 30 seconds. They and other members of the group listened to extracts that were (i) short and whispered, (ii) long and whispered, and (iii) short and normal (non-whispered). Foils were also included. Performance was well above chance, and improved significantly in conditions (ii) and (iii). Differences were found across listeners and voices. The study emphasises how important is it not to overgeneralise from experimental data to a witness’s ability under forensic conditions.

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Identificação de falante a partir de fala sussurrada

Resumo: Os métodos e achados sociofonéticos são valiosos para aplicação a questões da vida real, como no fornecimento de evidência forense pericial em casos legais. Os casos forenses envolvem vozes que se diferem marcadamente daquelas tipicamente encontradas em laboratório ou estudos de campo. Avaliamos a habilidade de pessoas de identificar vozes familiares produzidas de forma sussurrada, uma estratégia de disfarce comumente utilizada. Membros de uma rede social pré-existente foram gravados falando normalmente e de forma sussurrada. Os falantes consideraram difícil manter o sussurro por mais do que 30 segundos. Esses falantes e outros membros do grupo ouviram trechos que foram (i) curtos e sussurrados; (ii) longos e sussurrados e (iii) curtos e normais (não sussurrados). Distratores foram incluídos. A performance foi bem acima do acaso e melhorou significativamente nas condições (ii) e (iii). Diferenças foram encontradas entre falantes e vozes. O estudo enfatiza o quanto é importante não supergeneralizar a partir de dados experimentais quanto à habilidade da testemunha sob condições forenses.

Palavras-chave: Sociofonética; Fonética Forense; Sussurro

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Publicado

2017-06-21

Como Citar

Foulkes, P., Smith, I., & Sóskuthy, M. (2017). Speaker Identification in Whisper. Letras De Hoje, 52(1), 5–14. https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-7726.2017.1.26659

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