Bilingualism and Fundamental Frequency

Recently I got to listen to Dr. Krizman presentation on concussions and the importance of auditory processing. I was fascinated since I was aware of how critical auditory processing can be for a person, yet I did not know there was a relation with concussions. After reading her paper, I asked, “how would this change for people who speak two or more languages since this study focused on fundamental frequency which deals with understanding speech?” The paper talks about fundamental frequency which is a key acoustic cue for tracking sounds from speaking. It is how we understand speech which is what led me to consider how this can impact those who speak more than just one language. This led me to look into both fundamental frequency and bilingualism. 

In ‘Association Between Bilingualism, Vocal Effort, and Background Noise With Voice Fundamental Frequency and LTAS Among Spanish-English Bilingual Teachers’ from 2026, it focuses on the association between bilingualism and voice characteristics such as fundamental frequency along with other conditions. In this article, background noise is two of the conditions. There was a significant effect with background noise on fundamental frequency. This means that there were significant differences in voice spectral characteristics between productions without or with background sound and productions of English and Spanish (Cantor-Cutiva 235). Background sound can mask fundamental frequency which helps determine how well an individual can target voices. In the paper ‘Auditory biological marker of concussion in children’, background sound is used as a control variable; this is to analyze how a concussion might lead to compromise sound processing. The discussion focuses on the importance of environmental conditions along with language. 

When looking at people who speak more than just one language, there is a difference at least with Spanish and English. It was found that the fundamental frequency increased while a person read English text with the presence of background noise. Also in the discussion it was found that other studies reported lower fundamental frequency mean values in the second language compared with the native language (Cantor-Cutiva 239). It is to be accounted for that the sample size was small in this study and one's language comprehension was submitted through a self-report. Still, this study can be used to understand the impact fundamental frequency has on other languages. While a person may be fluent in several languages, the native language will always be the most prominent. Each language favors certain fundamental frequencies that can lead to differences on the reliability of sound processing. Again, sound processing can help identify neural processing which is related to how one comprehends speech in regards to the language being spoken. 

Cantor-Cutiva, L. C., Calvache Mora, C., Rincón-Pinilla, M. P., & Hunter, E. J. (2026). Association between bilingualism, vocal effort, and background noise with voice fundamental frequency and LTAS among Spanish-English bilingual teachers. Journal of Voice, 40(1), 235–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2023.09.001

Kraus, N., Thompson, E. C., Krizman, J., Cook, K., White-Schwoch, T., & LaBella, C. R. (2016). Auditory biological marker of concussion in children. Scientific reports, 6, 39009.