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BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOURNAL 



TABLE V 

 NoRMAi. Enunciation 



For our work, a prospective crew member is required to call such a 

 list of syllables to a crew of experienced observers. If the observed 

 articulations of the sounds are reasonably close to those indicated in 

 Table V for each circuit, and if no obvious irregularities are noticed 

 in the speech, the prospect is considered satisfactory for testing work. 

 Measurements are also made upon the individual's speech power, 

 but it has not been found necessary to use the information in the 

 process of selection. 



Aside from the practical application to the methods of testing, 

 the table is interesting in showing characteristic differences between 

 the voices of men and women. In general, woman's speech is more 

 difficult to interpret than man's, particularly, in the case of the 

 sibilant and fricative consonants. This is probably due to the fact 

 that in woman's speech, these sounds are not only fainter, but occupy 

 higher frequency ranges than in man's speech. The frequency range 

 from 6,000 to 8,000 cycles for the former, is approximately equivalent 

 to the range from 4,000 to 6,000 cycles, for the latter. In the case of 



