Effects of Vocal Force on the Intelligibility of Speech Sounds
J. M. Pickett · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1956
Measurements were made of the intelligibility of speech heard in noise and produced by different amounts of vocal force. Vocal force ranged from the weakest voiced whisper to a very heavy shout. The results show less than 5% deterioration in intelligibility over the range from a moderately low voice to a very loud voice (55 to 78 db in a free field at one m from the lips). Beyond these points intelligibility decreases abruptly and in a linear relation to decibel change in vocal intensity. Listeners' errors are analyzed to determine the effects of the extremes of vocal force on the intelligibility of different parts of the syllable and of different vowels.