Belting in English is Easier Than It is in Portuguese

Mfqp Bittencourt; J C Minucelli-Cardelli; Algp Navas; A C Duprat; M A Andrada E Silva

doi:10.1016/j.jvoice.2021.05.012

Belting in English is Easier Than It is in Portuguese

J Voice. 2023 Nov;37(6):968.e19-968.e24. doi: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2021.05.012. Epub 2021 Aug 4.

Authors

Mfqp Bittencourt¹, J C Minucelli-Cardelli², Algp Navas², A C Duprat², M A Andrada E Silva³

Affiliations

¹ Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Santa Casa de Sao Paulo School of Medical Sciences.
³ Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

PMID: 34364741
DOI: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2021.05.012

Abstract

Belting singers receiving care at the speech therapy service mentioned they find it easier to sing in American English than in Brazilian Portuguese.

Objective: to assess and compare the production of vowels and consonants of excerpts from musicals in Portuguese and English.

Methods: a phonological and phonetic analysis of the same excerpt from musicals was performed in both languages.

Results: We have observed that the predominance of fricatives in English and plosives in Portuguese explains the fluidity of singing in English and a greater disruption of speech fluidity in Portuguese.

Conclusion: therefore, belting in English is easier than it is in Portuguese.

Keywords: Phonetics—Belt Voice—Broadway— Musical Theater—Singing.

MeSH terms

Humans
Phonetics
Portugal
Singing*
Speech
Speech Acoustics*