On-line formant shifting as a function of F0

We investigate whether there is a within-speaker effect of a higher F0 on the values of the first and the second formant. When asked to speak at a high F0, speakers turn out to raise their formants as well. In the F1 dimension this effect is greater for women than for men. We conclude that the general formant raising effect might be due to the physiology of a high F0 (i.e. raised larynx and shorter vocal tract). A possible explanation for the gender-dependent size of the effect on F1 values can be found in the undersampling hypothesis.