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'Vocal Fry' Creeping Into U.S. Speech
Science Now ^ | 12/11/2011 | Science Now

Posted on 12/11/2011 1:13:33 PM PST by Dallas59

A curious vocal pattern has crept into the speech of young adult women who speak American English: low, creaky vibrations, also called vocal fry. Pop singers, such as Britney Spears, slip vocal fry into their music as a way to reach low notes and add style. Now, a new study of young women in New York state shows that the same guttural vibration—once considered a speech disorder—has become a language fad.

Vocal fry, or glottalization, is a low, staccato vibration during speech, produced by a slow fluttering of the vocal chords (listen here). Since the 1960s, vocal fry has been recognized as the lowest of the three vocal registers, which also include falsetto and modal—the usual speaking register. Speakers creak differently according to their gender, although whether it is more common in males or females varies among languages. In American English, anecdotal reports suggest that the behavior is much more common in women. (In British English, the pattern is the opposite.) Historically, continual use of vocal fry was classified as part of a voice disorder that was believed to lead to vocal chord damage. However, in recent years, researchers have noted occasional use of the creak in speakers with normal voice quality.


TOPICS: Science; Society
KEYWORDS: english; glottalization; language; vocalfry; vocalglottalization
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1 posted on 12/11/2011 1:13:49 PM PST by Dallas59
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To: Dallas59
Good Example Here
2 posted on 12/11/2011 1:14:57 PM PST by Dallas59 (President Robert Gibbs 2009-2011)
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To: Dallas59

You can hear it at the end of each sentence.


3 posted on 12/11/2011 1:16:08 PM PST by Dallas59 (President Robert Gibbs 2009-2011)
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To: Dallas59

That link features the voice of the dreadful “Powered by TellMe” robot agent at the toll-free customer service phone numbers of some major companies. It’s very grating and annoying.

I end up screaming “AGENT!” at it to dismiss it and get a real live person to speak to me.


4 posted on 12/11/2011 1:20:26 PM PST by thecodont
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To: Dallas59
Wow! Now that I understand it enough to listen for it, it really is annoying>
5 posted on 12/11/2011 1:22:25 PM PST by suijuris
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To: suijuris

Fr...eeeeeee.


6 posted on 12/11/2011 1:24:20 PM PST by Dallas59 (President Robert Gibbs 2009-2011)
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To: Dallas59

One of my daughters does this, she sounds like a 3PPD smoker


7 posted on 12/11/2011 1:25:28 PM PST by Chickensoup (In the 20th century 200 million people were killed by their own governments.)
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To: Dallas59

Bookmark


8 posted on 12/11/2011 1:26:50 PM PST by GOP Poet (Time for Bambi and his commie crew to go.)
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To: Dallas59

I must be a result of the brain fried on drugs.


9 posted on 12/11/2011 1:28:33 PM PST by jonrick46 (2012 can't come soon enough.)
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To: Dallas59; Morgana; little jeremiah; writer33

Our culture is devolving very fast, this is but one small symptom.

Plus maybe ridicule would help.


10 posted on 12/11/2011 1:34:56 PM PST by GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Pursue Happiness)
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To: Dallas59

It’s easy to do, I find. Just go “low and slow”. Youtube has a bunch of clips about how to practice it and amplify it into a “power fry”. Lordy.


11 posted on 12/11/2011 1:36:05 PM PST by dr_lew
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To: Dallas59
They're right. Now that I know what it is, I recognize hearing it all the time and yes, especially from women. What's up? Do they think it's sexy? When Kenny Rogers did it in his songs the women seemed to like it.
12 posted on 12/11/2011 1:37:24 PM PST by hinckley buzzard
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To: GOP Poet

I was wondering what that was. I hear it all the time, especially among young women, and it is very annoying.


13 posted on 12/11/2011 1:37:35 PM PST by MondoQueen
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To: Dallas59

Annoying.

One of the most annoying things to me is a voice that constantly sounds like they need to clear their throat.
Example; Rachel Ray


14 posted on 12/11/2011 1:42:33 PM PST by patriot08 (TEXAS GAL- born and bred and proud of it!)
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To: Dallas59
Good Example Here

You're kidding, right? That made as much sense as the calculus class I flunked in high school........

15 posted on 12/11/2011 1:46:40 PM PST by Hot Tabasco (Be good, Santa is coming)
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To: GeronL; Windflier

Yikes, makes me sooo glad I’m a hermit. I’ll give it a listen later. Someone was telling me on FR - Windflier! - that young men seem to be asssuming an even worse (?) vocal mannerism - an artificially high effeminate tone to their speech. I’ve never heard it (Thankfully) but maybe he’ll chime in.

Windflier, was it you who told me about this?

So the girls sound like big frogs and the boys sound like fags. What next (I DON’T want to know).


16 posted on 12/11/2011 1:51:37 PM PST by little jeremiah (We will have to go through hell to get out of hell.)
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To: little jeremiah; GeronL; Windflier
Someone was telling me on FR - Windflier! - that young men seem to be asssuming an even worse (?) vocal mannerism - an artificially high effeminate tone to their speech.

Yes, I think it was Windflier who posted that. (Howdy.)

It's gotten so rare to hear a nice baritone (or base) male voice that when I do it's like hearing music.

17 posted on 12/11/2011 1:56:09 PM PST by thecodont
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To: Dallas59
I think I understand what you are talking about. I have noticed that young women sound like their voice is coming from deep in their throat (gravely) and yet it still has a sort of nasal(flat) sound to it(if that makes sense). I really hate it, it is sort of dead sounding.

I have also noticed that a lot of commercials on TV (especially for SUBURU) will have a person singing in a fuzzy non professional singer kind of voice with a string instrument of some kind as the only accompaniment. I think the ads are targeted towards women who talk in the “fry voice”.

18 posted on 12/11/2011 1:58:21 PM PST by Ditter
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To: thecodont

Bass not base. Argh.


19 posted on 12/11/2011 2:00:00 PM PST by thecodont
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To: Dallas59
can't be worse than than damn Upspeak... i that that, sounds like every sentence is a question?
20 posted on 12/11/2011 2:02:45 PM PST by Chode (American Hedonist - *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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