Speaking in falsetto is not a gay lisp

People often misattribute the speaking style many gay men use as a way of impersonating women. Homosexuality was illegal in England until The speech pattern not only helps create community but connects gay men to a larger cultural pattern that stretches across humanity.

From Your Site Articles. Speaking with high f0 levels is not simply a way to sound gay, but a way to sound flamboyant, and reading passages are unlikely to inspire flamboyance in any reader, especially in the confines of a phonetics laboratory recording booth.

Harvard grad dispels the

Gay male speech has been the focus of numerous modern stereotypes, as well as sociolinguistic studies, particularly within North American English. Is there a gay accent? However, linguistics can point to specific speech patterns that are more common among gay men.

Get stories worth sharing delivered to your inbox. Susan Sankina speech pathologist, adds that gay men also often use nasality, a sing-song pattern, and hold on to words longer in their speech. For decades, popular depictions of gay men have sometimes portrayed them pronouncing the letter "s" as more of a "th" sound—even though studies have failed to find "lispier" speech in gay men than in straight men.

This style of speech is used to solidify the community but is also used by homophobic people to stereotype them. Aleksic adds that in the UK, gay male circus performers developed their language, Polari, to communicate with one another and identify those who are part of the community.

Trending Stories. According to Joseph Radice, a linguistics professor at the University of Florida, gay men often " uptalk " and use " vocal fry " when speaking. By slipping into the speech pattern, a man could identify himself as homosexual to other men that he believed to be the same.

The secret language allowed them to talk about their experiences as a gay man without being recognized by outsiders.

Gay Voice Stable Marker

All Rights Reserved. Identity Harvard linguistics 'nerd' shoots down the biggest misconception about the gay 'accent' He also shares the reason why man gay men have a unique speech pattern. About Us. Partner with Us.

Editorial Masthead. By signing up you agree to Upworthy's privacy policy. While some men with a gay voice do tend to hiss their "s" sounds, and technically a lisp can include any problem with pronouncing sibilants, it's not the common "th" type of lisp.

However, Aleksic says that it comes from a style of speech that gay men used to identify one another in the past when it was much more dangerous to be out of the closet. Adam Aleksic, a Harvard linguistics grad, made a video where he dispels some of the biggest misconceptions about the gay "accent." He adds that the special speech patterns were a way for gay men to identify themselves to others at a time when it was dangerous to be out of the closet.

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