Categorization of Vocal Fry in Running Speech

The purpose of this study was to examine and categorize patterns of vocal fry in running speech. Since no other research studies have attempted to fully categorize vocal fry before, and due to the universality of the phenomenon of vocal fry, and the potential psychosocial and voice disorder consequences that come with using it, this topic is of great significance. For this study, voice samples were read into Praat and analyzed, and minor differences in the physiologies that produce different “types” of fry were examined.Temporal categories of vocal fry discovered were as follows: “onset,” “earlier,” “later,” and “final,” depending on if the fry occurs at the onset of the syllable, earlier in the syllable, later in the syllable, or at the final part (end) of the syllable. Different physiological categories of the fry were explored as well, including “single pulse,” “double pulse,” and “multiple pulse,” which refer to the number of glottal pulses within the fry production. Other physiological categories described in this study include period doubling fry, delay fry, and inaudible fry. As for frequency of occurrence of these categories, fry in the onset of the syllable and early in the syllable tended to be the most common. Single pulse fry was the most frequent physiological pattern exhibited by the speakers in the study