摘要：This research develops a method for vowel identification capable of controlling individual
variation. It is grounded on the relation between distinctive features and the acoustic distance of
vowel formants, which is obtained through a logarithmic scale ¨Cwhich is how the auditory
system perceives sound¡ª and not though a lineal scale. The main innovation concerns the unit
of measure: relative frequency. The method was initially applied to the tonic vocalic system of
Central Catalan, but it was also tested against the vocalic system of American English for
comparative purposes. Finally, a perception test was conducted of synthesized vowels following
the parameters of relative frequency for each vowel class which were obtained from the
identification method.
关键词：wovels, acoustic analysis, percedption, distinctive features
