1

The Social Life of the Human Voice

Joshua RaclawNerd Nite MadisonNovember 2015

The Human Voice

• The human voice has a wide range of social meanings

• Variation across languages, cultures, and time

• But what do we mean when we talk about the voice?

The Human Voice

• But what do we mean when we talk about the voice?

• Sound from vocal fold vibration

resonating in head/throat cavities

• Air from the lungs moves…

• Varies in loudness, pitch, and

quality (phonation)

The Vocal Folds

• Introducing you to your vocal folds

• Vibration of the vocal folds

• Fingers to throat: /f/ and /v/, vowels, whisper

• Vocal fold

activity a huge

part of variation

in the voice

The Vocal Folds

• Introducing you to your vocal folds

• Vibration of the vocal folds

• Fingers to throat: /f/ and /v/, vowels, whisper

• Vocal fold

activity a huge

part of variation

in the voice

The Vocal Folds

• Really introducing you to your vocal folds

• Can alter length and tension

to produce higher or lower

pitch; go into falsetto; etc.

…Isn’t science awesome?

More About Vocal Pitch

• Pitch is a frequent social marker of gender

• Physiological (sex-based) basis for pitch differences

• Length, size, and tension of vocal folds affects pitch:

• Testosterone thickens and lengthens vocal folds

• In adult men, average 60% longer (Titze, 1989)

Physiology and Vocal Pitch

• But significant variation exists in and across genders

• On average, women measure 225 Hz, men 120 Hz

• But average pitch

ranges show

significant overlap:

• So men and woman have the potential to use the same pitch

Shifts in Vocal Pitch

• So men and women have potential to use same pitch

• And we know this because with proper training, we

can significantly alter the everyday pitch of our voice

• Margaret Thatcher dropped ~50 hz

• There’s also voice

feminization training:

Cross-Cultural Variation

• Significant cross-cultural variation in pitch as well

• Average pitches in men:

• German 161 Hz, Polish 138 Hz, American 119 Hz

• Average pitches in women:

• Japanese 232 Hz, American 214 Hz, Dutch 191 Hz

• Japanese women

up to 400 Hz

Cross-Cultural Variation

• Significant cross-cultural variation in pitch as well

• Average pitches in men:

• German 161 Hz, Polish 138 Hz, American 119 Hz

• Average pitches in women:

• Japanese 232 Hz, American 214 Hz, Dutch 191 Hz

• Japanese women

up to 400 Hz

Accounting for Variation

• These are all shifts in average overall pitch

• Why these shifts? Likely a mix of physiological,

sociocultural, and evolutionary factors at stake.

• Let’s talk a bit more about culture, baby. And how

we understand the meanings of vocal pitch.

Understanding Vocal Pitch

• Beliefs about vocal pitch are also powerful things

• Used to social effect, as in media:

David ProwseJames Earl Jones

Understanding Vocal Pitch

• Beliefs about vocal pitch and sex/gender even

motivated this Australian study from 2011:

• Low Pitched Voices Are Perceived as Masculine and

Attractive but Do They Predict Semen Quality in Men?

• It was published in PLOS ONE.

• Isn’t science awesome?

• (Also, for those of you wondering, it doesn’t.)

Cross-Cultural Variation

• But even these beliefs may vary cross-culturally:

• Among groups in Yemen, adult male tribesmen often

use creaky voice and a high tenor, near falsetto, in

ritual greetings to rend “manhood” and “virility”

• Among Lachixío Zapotec speakers in in Oaxaca, similar

voice quality conveys respect; used to address God in

prayer, deceased relatives, or community elders

More to Explore

• More to be explored about pitch is used and

understood in context:

• Men and women speak drop ~6.5 Hz when leaving

voicemails to hotties (Hughes et al., 2010)

• Women apparently also raise ~6.5 Hz when leaving

voicemails to hotties (Fraccaro et al., 2011) ?

• And what’s with

these potatoes:

Thank You

• .