formant analysis

Formant analysis is a technique used to study speech sounds by examining specific frequency patterns called formants, which are resonant frequencies of the vocal tract. When we speak, our throat, mouth, and lips shape the air to produce different sounds, and each vowel has a unique set of formants. By analyzing these formants, linguists and speech scientists can identify and differentiate sounds accurately. This analysis helps in areas like speech therapy, voice recognition, and linguistic research, providing insight into how speech is produced and how it varies between individuals and languages.