PurposeSarcasm is a specialized speech act in daily vocal communication usually characterized by unique prosodic features, but the role of voice quality in expressing sarcasm has not been explored much. The goal of this study is to explore the voice quality features of Mandarin sarcastic speech in comparison to sincere speech.MethodFifteen male and 15 female native speakers of Mandarin uttered 31 target sentences with both sincere and sarcastic attitudes. Nine voice quality parameters extracted from the acoustic and electroglottographic signals were analyzed using a linear mixed model, and a classification analysis using a random forest algorithm was conducted to identify the relative contribution of these parameters to the differentiation between sincere and sarcastic utterances.ResultsIn comparison to sincere speech, sarcastic speech had a creakier voice, which was characterized by a lower fundamental frequency, a greater degree of vocal fold adduction (i.e., higher contact quotient), lesser noise (i.e., higher harmonics-to-noise ratio), and more multiple pulsing (i.e., higher subharmonic-to-harmonic ratio). The interaction effect revealed a gender difference in the use of creakier voice to express sarcasm in Mandarin. The classification analysis using the random forest algorithm showed that the nine voice quality parameters resulted in 84.0% and 83.7% identification rates for sarcastic and sincere utterances, respectively.ConclusionsThe results of this preliminary study support the role of voice quality in expressing sarcasm in Mandarin speech. Using a set of voice quality parameters, sarcastic and sincere utterances can be effectively identified. Furthermore, there is a gender difference in the use of creakier voice in expressing Mandarin sarcastic speech.Supplemental Materialhttps://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12743780

中文翻译：

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语音质量在普通话讽刺言语中的作用：声学和声门电图研究

目的讽刺是日常言语交流中的一种特殊言语行为，通常具有独特的韵律特征，但语音质量在表达讽刺中的作用尚未得到太多探讨。本研究的目的是探讨普通话讽刺语音与真诚语音相比的语音质量特征。方法15名男性和15名女性以普通话为母语，以真诚和讽刺的态度说出了31个目标句子。使用线性混合模型分析从声学和电声门信号中提取的九个语音质量参数，并使用随机森林算法进行分类分析，以确定这些参数对区分真诚和讽刺话语的相对贡献。结果与真诚的讲话相比，讽刺的讲话声音更沙哑，其特点是基频较低，声带内收程度较大（即接触商较高），噪音较小（即谐波噪声比较高） ，以及更多的多重脉冲（即更高的分谐波与谐波比）。互动效应揭示了使用沙哑的声音用普通话表达讽刺的性别差异。使用随机森林算法的分类分析表明，9 个语音质量参数对讽刺和真诚话语的识别率分别为 84.0% 和 83.7%。结论这项初步研究的结果支持了语音质量在普通话语音表达讽刺中的作用。使用一组语音质量参数，可以有效识别讽刺和真诚的话语。此外，在用沙哑的声音表达普通话讽刺言论时存在性别差异。补充材料https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12743780