Universal and language-specific perception of affect from voice

Abstract

This paper outlines the general results of a cross-language study of perception of affect from voice. The study aims to clarify how variations in voice quality (in synthesized stimuli) can evoke different affective coloring for subjects from four different language/cultural backgrounds: Irish English, Russian, Spanish and Japanese. This study furthermore addresses, by including major f0 differences in some stimuli, some aspects of the role of f0 in affect cueing, particularly for the signaling of strong emotions. The results suggest both universal and language/culture-specific trends in voice to affect association.