Voice

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When Roger Ebert lost the ability to speak due to complications from thyroid cancer, family, friends, and fans of the legendary film critic thought they’d never hear his voice again. He was able to communicate using a computer equipped with text-to-speech technology, but of course it didn’t sound like him. A company in Scotland approached him, saying it could create a customized voice for his computer by using the many hours of audio commentary Ebert had recorded over the years. When he unveiled his new “voice” to his wife, she was moved to tears: although the voice still had the stilted speech pattern that typifies computerized speech, it sounded like Ebert, whom she had not heard speak for more than three years (Hare, 2010).

The vocalized sounds that accompany our words are nonverbal behaviors called paralanguage. Text-to-speech programs try to mimic human speech. Indeed, the program developed for Roger Ebert can replicate certain aspects of his paralanguage—specifically, the pitch, tone, and volume of his real voice. Pitch in language involves variations in the voice that give prominence to certain words or syllables. Vocal tone is a modulation of the voice, usually expressing a particular feeling or mood; you may notice your friend sounds “down” or hear the excitement in your teammate’s revelry about your win. Vocal volume is how loud or soft the voice is—as in the softness of a whisper or the thunder of an angry shout.

In addition to pitch, tone, and volume, para-language also involves behaviors like pauses, vocal quality, and the rate and rhythm of speech. It exhibits qualities like hoarseness, smoothness, or deepness, and it may sound precise, clipped, slurred, or shrill. We all have preferences about which voices are most attractive—and while individual tastes vary, research points to some general preferences. For example, we find angry, demanding voices annoying and whiny voices really annoying (Sokol, Webster, Thompson, & Stevens, 2005). Look no further than your favorite radio DJs or newscasters to examine the vocal qualities people enjoy the most. These individuals tend to have smooth voices and find a middle ground between precise and fluid speech. Pronunciation matters too; it can identify individuals as having come from another country or region. Thus, people in Texas talk about the city of “Hew-ston,” while New Yorkers might point to “How-ston” Street, even though both locations are spelled “Houston.”

Meanwhile, vocalizations are paralinguistic cues that give information about our emotional or physical state, such as laughing, crying, sighing, yawning, or moaning. Other vocalizations simply replace words or create nonword fillers in conversations. You might clear your throat to get someone’s attention or use “Shhhh” to quiet a crowd, and most of us tend to insert “umms” and “ahs” into conversation when we’re taking a moment to think. Sometimes such back-channel cues signal when we want to talk versus when we’re encouraging others to continue talking.