formant

https://glossary.acousti.cloud/formant

"Principal frequencies in the sound spectrum of a human (or analogous) utterance, which, for a particular individual, are diagnostic of particular speech-elements, especially vowels in which some three characteristic formants (different for each vowel and for each individual) are present. They are resonance frequencies originating in the vocal tract , and in some but not all cases can be attributed to parts of it. The individual differences, especially between male and female, in the formant complement appropriate to a given vowel might be expected to lead to confusion by a hearer, and indeed Broadbent succeeded in making an experimental audience identify one and the same synthetic sound as bit it one context and bet in another; the diagnostic properties of the formant-set of a particular individual are thus relative to those of the rest of the utterance, which is taken into account, computer-wise, by the hearer." [1]

Synonyms: formant frequencies

Reference: [1] Broughton WB. Glossarial Index. In: Acoustic Behavior of Animals. Elsevier; 1963.