Abstract Vowel formants provide information as to how a vowel is uttered. Formant frequencies are relevant in applications involving human speech processing. However, such implementations are mainly performed with non-Spanish speakers. Thus, the Spanish vowels characterization should be further explored. In this study, a method for formants extraction based on the discrete wavelet transform is presented. The work focuses on Spanish speakers from Antioquia, Colombia. The parameters of the wavelet analysis are adjusted in order to establish a suitable vowels characterization within the frequency formant space. The results show that the vowel-specific wavelet analysis yields well defined clusters in the formant space. A k-means algorithm was trained in order to obtain representative centroids for each vowel. These centroids are tested in a vowels identification task, with good performance results. Moreover, the centroids are compared with vowel formants from Spanish speakers reported in the literature. The comparison reveals that speakers from distinct regions express specific features of vowels utterance, suggesting that speakers from regional populations within countries, can be better characterized. The proposed wavelet parametrization combined with the clustering algorithm can be attractive for real-time applications of voice processing. Furthermore, the proposed methodology can be applied in future studies with speakers from other Colombian- and Spanish-speaking regions.

中文翻译：

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使用特定参数化离散小波变换分析对来自安蒂奥基亚-哥伦比亚的西班牙语使用者进行元音表征

摘要 元音共振峰提供有关如何发出元音的信息。共振峰频率与涉及人类语音处理的应用相关。然而，这样的实现主要由非西班牙语使用者执行。因此，应进一步探讨西班牙语元音的表征。在这项研究中，提出了一种基于离散小波变换的共振峰提取方法。这项工作的重点是来自哥伦比亚安蒂奥基亚的西班牙语使用者。调整小波分析的参数以在频率共振峰空间内建立合适的元音特征。结果表明，特定于元音的小波分析在共振峰空间中产生了明确定义的簇。训练 k-means 算法以获得每个元音的代表性质心。这些质心在元音识别任务中进行了测试，具有良好的性能结果。此外，质心与文献中报道的西班牙语使用者的元音共振峰进行了比较。比较表明，来自不同地区的说话者表达了元音发音的特定特征，这表明可以更好地表征来自国家内地区人口的说话者。所提出的小波参数化与聚类算法相结合对于语音处理的实时应用具有吸引力。此外，所提出的方法可以应用于未来与来自其他哥伦比亚和西班牙语地区的演讲者的研究。比较表明，来自不同地区的说话者表达了元音发音的特定特征，这表明可以更好地表征来自国家内地区人群的说话者。所提出的小波参数化与聚类算法相结合对于语音处理的实时应用具有吸引力。此外，所提出的方法可以应用于未来与来自其他哥伦比亚和西班牙语地区的演讲者的研究。比较表明，来自不同地区的说话者表达了元音发音的特定特征，这表明可以更好地表征来自国家内地区人群的说话者。所提出的小波参数化与聚类算法相结合对于语音处理的实时应用具有吸引力。此外，所提出的方法可以应用于未来与来自其他哥伦比亚和西班牙语地区的演讲者的研究。