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About
The following is a set of definitions for new, completely invented terminology.
The goal of this document is to provide a static, unchangeable base for terminology which does not have significant connotations with human language and cannot be misunderstood or have its definitions changed or muddied.
Goals of this project
- to provide a timeless and absolute definition for voice terminology as a base
- to remove connotations from voice terminology by not using existing words in human language
- to prevent meaning from being changed or misinterpreted
- to, as a result of being exact and immutable, prevent disagreements about the meaning of words
These are to be linked to this page if needed to be specific, in case someone claims to have a definition that does not fit these definitions. You may prefix the terms with sts22- such as sts22-Welit to provide an absolute reference to this document’s definitions. Do not distribute modified versions of these definitions. Do not claim different definitions supercede these definitions.
Any attempt to change these definitions should be responded to by linking to this page or providing the original signed document. If you don’t like these definitions or terms, don’t use them and instead leave them alone for people who do find them useful to use. Don’t let people change them to fit their own pedagogy or pollute them simply because they don’t like them! This sort of thing has happened a lot in the singing world and thus the concern for it happening in trans voice as well.
IMPORTANT
If you wish to verify this signature, use the plaintext version in the new_terminology.md file on GitHub. Otherwise, some of the characters used in markdown will not be present and you will get a bad verify.
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Final Version
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# Prekt
Prekt is the frequency of the first (zero-th) harmonic in the voice, NOT including subharmonics. It is the cycles per second of the true vocal folds (vocal ligament) vibrating. If the vocal folds complete 148 cycles (open and close) in one second, the prekt is 148 or 148hz.
Higher frequency of the first harmonic > higher in prekt / higher prekt
More completed vocal fold open and close cycles per second > higher in prekt
Prekt can be referred to with musical notation or subjectively as high / low prekt, but is defined as the vibratory (or completed open and close) cycles per second of the true vocal folds / HZ of the fundamental.
# Welit
Vocal fold vibratory mass is the amount of the true vocal folds that vibrates when making a voice.
Welit is the estimated amount of vocal fold vibratory mass (VFVM). Low prekt encourages more welit. Relaxed high prekt encourages less welit.
Since VFVM cannot be easily measured, we estimate welit based on the sound qualities we exclusively associate with VFVM. If some quality of voice is known to be caused by factors other than VFVM or is not directly caused by VFVM then it does not affect welit.
The sound appears to have more vocal fold vibratory mass > more welit.
Higher prekt with low effort voice > encourages lower welit
Does not include any other factor such as adduction, twang, volume, creak / fry. It is only the perceived effect of estimated vocal fold vibratory mass specifically. Lendis on its own does not affect welit, but people often add the two simultaneously due to conflation.
# Rezion
Resonant frequencies of the vocal tract filter similar frequencies to be louder and others quieter. The resultant effect on the voice is the formation of formants, which highlight some part of the voice, usually around the resonant frequencies of the vocal tract.
Rezion is the assumed level of F1 and F2 (the first and second formants above the fundamental) on average. If measured precisely, it is measured by the frequency of F1 on an /a/ vowel (UK “bath”).
Higher frequency F1 and F2 without changing vowel > higher rezion
A sound that seems to have high F1 and F2 frequencies > higher rezion
Rezion tends to raise and lower in relation to prekt, but the concepts are separate. Rezion is only the formant values in the voice and the resulting subjective perception of that. When used subjectively as just 'high rezion' or 'low rezion' we assume that the F1 is high or low respectively. We don't add other factors to the determination of rezion that affect the overall perception of brint and dern for example. It is anchored to the F1, and is overridden by measurements of the F1 and F2.
# Sezion
Similar to rezion. When we hear a voice we intuitively assume the physical size / stature of the speaker. If the voice sounds lun (more sezion) we expect the speaker to be large like a giant.If the voice sounds sul (less sezion), we expect the speaker to be like a small pixie or a goblin. Lun and sul are opposite ends of the spectrum of sezion.
Sezion then gives an impression of the physical size of the speaker, even if there is no actual correlation to physical stature of that character (a large character might have a sul voice). Lun and sul are descriptions then of a voice, and how it indicates - correctly or not - the stature of the speaker.
In use, this is essentially rezion, high rezion being typically sul and low rezion typically being lun. This has a minor, secondary relationship with prekt because higher prekt voices usually sound more sul and lower prekt voices sound more lun.
You hear a voice and think the character whose voice it was is small > the voice is more sul
You hear a voice and think the character whose voice it was is large > the voice is more lun
# Brint and Dern
Overly brint voices can sound buzzy, as a result of somewhat high rezion and sufficient tone clarity (less noise, breathiness or false fold activity). Dern voices can be a result of low lendis, too much air being directed through the nose (hypernasality) or too low rezion or any number of other factors.
Brint and dern are sound qualities that are heard and subjectively described as per these observations.
The voice sounds buzzy and bright > more brint
The voice sounds dull and dark > more dern
The voice sounds not dern and also moderately high rezion > probably brint
The voice has high rezion but something is making the voice ‘dull’ > more dern
The voice sounds muffled and muddy > probably dern
# Lendis
The effect of amount of airflow and closure on overall amplitude. Higher airflow and balanced / flow phonation closure of the vocal folds will result in higher lendis. This is only the effect of airflow and closure, and is irrelevant of welit or rezion or other sound filter modifications. It is an additive relationship between adduction and subglottal pressure that result in lendis.
More airflow and same closure (more adduction to balance increased airflow) > more lendis
Less airflow and less closure (breathy) > less lendis
Less closure, same airflow > less lendis
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Old versions
Previous signed message (this is only authoritative until the same PGP key signs the next draft):
—–BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE—– Hash: SHA512
The following is a draft of definitions for new invented terminology. The same PGP key will make one more signature but no more. Please take note of the expiry of the key. This should be Dec 31 2022.
The goal of this document is to provide a static, unchangeable base for terminology which does not have significant connotations with human language and cannot be misunderstood or have its definitions muddied.
Goals of this project
-
- to provide a timeless and absolute definition for voice terminology as a base
-
- to remove connotations from voice terminology by not using existing words
-
- to prevent meaning from being changed and misinterpreted
-
- to as a result of being exact and immutable, prevent disagreements about the meaning of words
These are to be prefixed with euxwD5nvsu or linked to this page if needed to be specific.
prekt
Prekt is the frequency in HZ of the fundamental frequency of the voice. This is the frequency of the first (zeroth) harmonic in the voice, NOT including subharmonics. It is the cycles per second of the vocal folds vibrating. If the vocal folds complete 148 cycles (open and close) in one second, the prekt is 148 or 148hz.
Higher frequency of the first harmonic > higher in prekt / higher prekt
Prekt can be referred to with musical notation, but its meaning is based on vibratory cycles per second of the vocal folds / HZ of the fundamental.
vwit
The estimated amount of vocal fold vibratory mass (VFVM) expressed in subjective auditory manner. This is currently theorized to be caused primarily by the activation of the thyroarytenoid muscles. That is, more thyroarytenoid muscle activation > more vwit. Low prekt encourages more vwit. Relaxed high prekt encourages less vwit.
Since VFVM cannot be easily measured, we estimate vwit based on the sound qualities we exclusively associate with VFVM. If some quality of voice is caused by factors other than VFVM or is not directly caused by VFVM then it does not affect vwit.
More vocal fold vibratory mass > the sound appears to have more vwit.
Higher prekt with low effort voice > lower vwit
Lower prekt with moderate or low effort voice > probably higher vwit
Does not include any other factor such as adduction, twang, volume. It is only the perceived effect of vocal fold vibratory mass specifically. Lendis on its own does not affect vwit, but people often add the two simultaneously.
rezion
Level of F1 and F2 (the first and second formants above the fundamental) on average as read from the middle of the formant highlight. If measured precisely, measured by the frequency of F1 on /a/.
Higher frequency F1 without changing vowel > higher rezion
A sound that seems to have a high F1 frequency > higher rezion
Rezion tends to raise and lower in relation to prekt, but the concepts are separate. Rezion is only the formant values in the voice and the resulting subjective perception of that. When used subjectively as just ‘high rezion’ or ‘low rezion’ we assume that the F1 is high or low respectively. We don’t add other factors to the determination of rezion that affect the overall perception of brint and dern for example. It is anchored to the F1, and is overridden by measurements of the F1 and F2.
sezion
Similar to rezion. When we hear a voice we intuitively associate it with the physical size / stature of the speaker. If the speaker is a giant, the voice will sound lun. If the speaker is a small pixie or a goblin, the voice will sound sul. Lun and sul are ends of the spectrum of sezion.
Sezion then gives an impression of the physical size of the speaker, even if there is no actual correlation to physical stature (a large character might have a sul voice). Lun and sul are descriptions then of a voice, and how it indicates - correctly or not - the size of the speaker.
In use, this is essentially rezion, high rezion being typically sul and low rezion typically being lun. This has a small, secondary relationship with prekt, because higher prekt voices sound more sul and lower prekt voices sound lun.
Higher rezion and / or higher prekt > more sul Lower rezion and / or lower prekt > more lun
brint and dern
Subjective amount of high frequency harmonic information. This does not include noise or false fold caused sounds. It has an additive relationship with rezion because rezion acts on those higher frequencies, and if those harmonics are strong then the effect of rezion will be more significant.
Harmonic information is that which can be expressed as multiples of the prekt of the voice. These appear as lines on a spectrogram, an equal frequency apart from each other and multiples of the fundamental frequency.
More harmonic information in the higher frequencies > more brint Less harmonic information in the higher frequencies > more dern
lendis
The effect of amount of airflow and closure on overall amplitude. Higher airflow and balanced / flow phonation closure of the vocal folds will result in higher lendis. This is only the effect of airflow and closure, and is irrelevant of vwit or rezion or other sound filter modifications. It is an additive relationship between adduction and subglottal pressure that result in lendis. However, higher closure (adduction) than flow phonation / normal speech levels will not increase lendis. This would be considered prefol.
More airflow and same closure (more adduction to balance increased airflow) > more lendis Less airflow and less closure (breathy) > less lendis Less closure, same airflow > less lendis
prefol
A state of phonation where there is very high adduction and only the necessary subglottal pressure to produce voice, but low air flow. Anything with significantly more closure than flow phonation / normal speech levels without additional air flow is considered prefol. This can be creaky or squeezed and buzzy. —–BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE—–
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