Article published in:
Above and Beyond the Segments: Experimental linguistics and phonetics
Edited by Johanneke Caspers, Yiya Chen, Willemijn Heeren, Jos Pacilly, Niels O. Schiller and Ellen van Zanten
[Not in series 189] 2014
► pp. 14–27

Whose voice is that? Challenges in forensic phonetics

In this paper, we explore speaker recognition as a process that is based partly on analysis of phonetic and linguistic features and partly on pattern recognition (Gestalt perception). Central to this paper is the challenge to incorporate the dual nature of speaker recognition in forensic casework. To meet this challenge, we propose the so-called “blind grouping” method. Blind grouping does not require verbal-analytic terminology, but requires the expert to compare anonymised fragments and arrange them into groups based on same-speaker and different-speaker judgements. It allows the forensic expert to use any strategy to reach a result, including pattern recognition and feature analysis. This method is proposed as a supplement to the traditional auditory-acoustic method.
Published online: 10 December 2014
https://doi.org/10.1075/z.189.02cam
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