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It seems as if the fundamentals of how we produce vowels and how they are acoustically represented have been clarified: we phonate and articulate. Using our vocal chords, we produce a vocal sound or noise which is then shaped into a specific vowel sound by the resonances of the pharyngeal, oral, and nasal cavities, that is, the vocal tract. Accordingly, the acoustic description of vowels relates to vowelspecific patterns of relative energy maxima in the sound spectra, known as patterns of formants.
The intellectual and empirical reasoning presented in this treatise, however, gives rise to scepticism with respect to this understanding of the sound of the vowel. The reflections and materials presented provide reason to argue that, up to now, a comprehensible theory of the acoustics of the voice and of voiced speech sounds is lacking, and consequently, no satisfying understanding of vowels as an achievement and particular formal accomplishment of the voice exists. Thus, the question of the acoustics of the vowel - and with it the question of the acoustics of the voice itself - proves to be an unresolved fundamental problem.

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Prevailing Theory - Prevailing Empirical References - Vowels and Number of Formants - Vowels and Fundamental Frequency - Formant Patterns and Speaker Groups - Terms of Reference, Methods of Formant Estimation - Unsystematic Correspondence between Vowels, Patterns of Relative Spectral Energy Maxima and Formant Patterns - Lack of Correspondence between Vowels and Patterns of Relative Spectral Energy Maxima or Formant Patterns - Ambiguous Correspondence between Vowels and Patterns of Relative Spectral Energy Maxima or Formant Patterns or Complete Spectral Envelopes - Lack of Correspondence between Patterns of Relative Spectral Energy Maxima or Formant Patterns and Speaker Groups or Vocal-Tract Sizes - Lack of Correlation between Methodological Limitations of Formant Determination and Limitations of Vowel Perception - Empirical Falsification despite Methodological Limitations of Determining Patterns of Relative Spectral Envelope Maxima or Formant Patterns.

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Dieter Maurer ( 1955, Zurich) studied education, philosophy and psychology at the universities of Tubingen and Zurich. His dissertation, subsequent research and publications are devoted to inquiry into the formal character of vocal and visual expressions, as aspects of the syntactics of voices and pictures. His work addresses both foundation studies as well as art education. He is currently engaged in research and teaching at the Zurich University of the Arts.

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