The phonetics of gender in Swedish and German

Gender specific variation in phonetic parameters exist cross-linguistically. However, differences between languages in the size of this variation point to a socio-cultural aspect influencing these gender-specific differences. This study investigates fundamental frequency and vowel space size in 71 Swedish and German males and females, thereby comparing gender differences between the language groups. In addition, self-reported gender identity scores are gathered and set in relation to the phonetic variation. Results reveal differences between the language groups in the size of gender-specific variation with German speakers showing larger differences in mean f0 and vowel space size between the genders than Swedish speakers. This is mainly due to a lower mean f0 and a smaller vowel space in Swedish females and reflects socio-cultural differences in gender identity