Vocal Fundamental Frequency Characteristics During The First Two Years Of Life

Vocal fundamental frequency (F0) characteristics were sampled for a group of seven young children. The children were followed longitudinally for a 12-month period, spanning preword, single-word, and multiword vocalizations. The F0 characteristics were analyzed with reference to chronological age, vocalization length, and lexicon size. Measures of average F0 and F0 variability changed little during the 12-month period for each child. A rising-falling intonation contour was the most prevalent F0 contour among the children. In general, the influence of vocalization length and language acquisition on measures of F0 was negligible. It is suggested that relative uniformity in vocal F0 exists in early vocalizations across preword and meaningful speech periods.