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Abstract
In this dissertation, I present trends present in the speech of transgender speakers of English and German for three features, namely fundamental frequency (F0) of vowels, vowel space, and qualities of sibilant sounds. This research is exploratory in nature and strives to expand the understanding of transgender speech as a distinct variety in both English and German. The goal of this research is to indicate what features some speakers use to form their linguistic identity regarding gender. 24 English speakers and 7 German speakers who identified as transgender were interviewed and completed three separate experimental speech tasks. Those tasks were a list of words, a short reading passage, and an open-ended interview with each task selected to elicit differing modes of speech. Participants’ speech was segmented, sampled, and analyzed to determine how speakers used each phonetic feature as a potential marker of gender.
F0 is used as a consistent marker of gender for transgender men in both English and German after several months of hormonal therapy and is often in the same range as their cisgender counterparts with respect to language. Transgender men in both languages show greater F0 ranges than their cisgender counterparts, and this may be indicative of a trans specific linguistic identity. For transgender women, F0 in both language groups show less alignment with their cisgender peers, with a lower overall F0 mean. Notably, extensive speech therapy produced a higher F0 in some women. Vowel space is variable per speaker, but transgender men show an overall space that is more contracted after hormonal therapy, though not statistically significant, and some transgender women conversely show an expanded vowel space. Sibilants show less distinct trends than the other features measured in this research, primarily that no groups in either language show a significant effect of gender on sibilant duration or center of gravity. This research indicates that for transgender people want to approach the stylistic norms of the gender they identify with, then HRT and speech therapy are both effective. HRT seems to be particularly helpful for men who want to lower their F0, while speech therapy is helpful for women who want to raise their F0.