Exploring the Contributions of Various Acoustic Features in Cantonese Vocal Emotions.
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| Title: | Exploring the Contributions of Various Acoustic Features in Cantonese Vocal Emotions. |
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| Authors: | Han, Dong1, Yang, Yike1 yyang@hksyu.edu |
| Source: | Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research. Nov2025, Vol. 68 Issue 11, p5226-5237. 12p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Data analysis, *Emotions, *Speech perception, Statistical models, Descriptive statistics, Physiological aspects of speech, Statistics, Decision trees, Data analysis software |
| Abstract: | Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the acoustic patterns of six emotions and a neutral state in Cantonese speech by focusing on the prosodic modulations that convey emotional content in this tonal language, which has six lexical tones. Method: We employed the extended Geneva minimalistic acoustic parameter set to systematically analyze the acoustic features of 3,474 recordings from the Cantonese Audio-Visual Emotional Speech Database. Linear mixed-effects models were fitted to examine variations in acoustic parameters across emotional states. Decision tree models were used to assess the relative contributions of 22 acoustic parameters in classifying emotions. Results: By fitting linear mixed-effects models, our results revealed statistically significant variations in most of the acoustic parameters across diverse emotional states. The decision tree models showed the relative contributions of 22 acoustic parameters in the classification of emotions, with spectral parameters accounting for 65.45% of the significance in distinguishing all seven emotional states, significantly exceeding other groups of features. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the unique characteristics of emotional expression in Cantonese, in which spectral parameters play a more significant role compared to the frequency-related parameters that are often emphasized in nontonal languages. Our results contribute significantly to understanding vocal emotion expression in tonal languages and are particularly useful for designing emotion-recognition systems and hearing aids that are tailored to tonal language environments. Furthermore, these insights have potential implications for enhancing emotional communication and cognitive training interventions for Cantonese-speaking individuals who use hearing aids or have cochlear implants, are on the autism spectrum, or have Alzheimer's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 189241803 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Exploring the Contributions of Various Acoustic Features in Cantonese Vocal Emotions. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Han%2C+Dong%22">Han, Dong</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Yang%2C+Yike%22">Yang, Yike</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> yyang@hksyu.edu</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Speech%2C+Language+%26+Hearing+Research%22">Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research</searchLink>. Nov2025, Vol. 68 Issue 11, p5226-5237. 12p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+analysis%22">Data analysis</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Emotions%22">Emotions</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Speech+perception%22">Speech perception</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Statistical+models%22">Statistical models</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Descriptive+statistics%22">Descriptive statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Physiological+aspects+of+speech%22">Physiological aspects of speech</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Statistics%22">Statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Decision+trees%22">Decision trees</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+analysis+software%22">Data analysis software</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the acoustic patterns of six emotions and a neutral state in Cantonese speech by focusing on the prosodic modulations that convey emotional content in this tonal language, which has six lexical tones. Method: We employed the extended Geneva minimalistic acoustic parameter set to systematically analyze the acoustic features of 3,474 recordings from the Cantonese Audio-Visual Emotional Speech Database. Linear mixed-effects models were fitted to examine variations in acoustic parameters across emotional states. Decision tree models were used to assess the relative contributions of 22 acoustic parameters in classifying emotions. Results: By fitting linear mixed-effects models, our results revealed statistically significant variations in most of the acoustic parameters across diverse emotional states. The decision tree models showed the relative contributions of 22 acoustic parameters in the classification of emotions, with spectral parameters accounting for 65.45% of the significance in distinguishing all seven emotional states, significantly exceeding other groups of features. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the unique characteristics of emotional expression in Cantonese, in which spectral parameters play a more significant role compared to the frequency-related parameters that are often emphasized in nontonal languages. Our results contribute significantly to understanding vocal emotion expression in tonal languages and are particularly useful for designing emotion-recognition systems and hearing aids that are tailored to tonal language environments. Furthermore, these insights have potential implications for enhancing emotional communication and cognitive training interventions for Cantonese-speaking individuals who use hearing aids or have cochlear implants, are on the autism spectrum, or have Alzheimer's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1044/2025_JSLHR-24-00677 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 12 StartPage: 5226 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Data analysis Type: general – SubjectFull: Emotions Type: general – SubjectFull: Speech perception Type: general – SubjectFull: Statistical models Type: general – SubjectFull: Descriptive statistics Type: general – SubjectFull: Physiological aspects of speech Type: general – SubjectFull: Statistics Type: general – SubjectFull: Decision trees Type: general – SubjectFull: Data analysis software Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Exploring the Contributions of Various Acoustic Features in Cantonese Vocal Emotions. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Han, Dong – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Yang, Yike IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 11 Text: Nov2025 Type: published Y: 2025 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 10924388 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 68 – Type: issue Value: 11 Titles: – TitleFull: Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research Type: main |
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