The expression of “naming,” “commanding,” “angry,” “frightened,” “pleading,” “astonished,” “satisfied,” “admiring,” “scornful,” and “sad” was studied with the word [saara] spoken by 12 subjects. Using the same connotations, the 120 utterances were categorized by 73 listeners. Most samples were agreed on by 50%–99% of the judges. Most samples of “astonished,” “angry,” “frightened,” and “commanding” were judged as intended, while “pleading” was often confused with “sad,” and “content” with “admiring.” Acoustic differences between the categories were examined forF0,duration, and sound pressure; spectral features of [aa] were visualized with the self-organizing map of Kohonen. Most intraspeaker variation of meanF0,F0range, sound pressure, and duration took place during the [aa] segment. Peak sound pressure, meanF0,and spectral energy distribution of [aa] differentiated among “commanding,” “angry,” “frightened,” “naming,” and “sad.” Specific intonations of the [aa]segment were encountered for “astonished,” “scornful,” and “pleading.” The best-conveyed “admiring” samples were distinguished from “content” by spectral cues for a breathy voice quality.