Gay male speech: Difference between revisions
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A '''gay lisp''' is not a technical [[lisp]], but refers to [[stereotypical]] speech attributes assigned to and sometimes heard in [[gay]] [[male]]s in English-speaking countries.<ref name="beyond">[http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/codemix.htm Beyond Lisping: Code Switching and Gay Speech Styles]</ref><ref>[http://www.macalester.edu/weekly/030102/myworld.html][http://ec.gayalliance.org/articles/000645.shtml] Examples of LGBT writing in which "gay lisp" used as a general term for the sound of gay male speech</ref> The phenomenon of "gay lisp" and its study are controversial and poorly understood similar to other secondary external attributes or verbal and non-verbal mannerisms of both gay and straight people. Like most stereotypes they have dubious utility and questionable social meaning. Not all homosexual men exhibit the "lisp". Some heterosexual men speak with it. Some homosexual men only use it in certain situation and turn it "on and off" for effect. Native speakers of English from different countries such as [[Australia]], [[England]] and the [[United States]], exhibit great variations further confounding the phenomenon. These attributes have proven difficult to define and quantify but seem possibly somewhat independent of other variables in the [[phonology]] of the [[English language]], such as [[Accent (linguistics)|accent]] and [[Register (linguistics)|register]].<ref>This article and the references its cites concern the phonology of the English language almost exclusively.</ref> |
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==Characteristics== |
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Several speech features are stereotyped as markers of gay male identity: careful pronunciation, wide pitch range, high and rapidly changing pitch, breathy tone, lengthened [[fricative consonant|fricative]] sounds, and pronunciation of {{IPA|/t/}} as {{IPA|/ts/}} and {{IPA|/d/}} as {{IPA|/dz/}} ([[affricate consonant|affrication]]).<ref name="beyond"/> |
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The "gay sound" of some, but certainly not all, gay men seems to some listeners to involve the characteristic "lisp" involving [[sibilant]]s ({{IPA|/s/}}, {{IPA|/z/}}, {{IPA|/?/}}, and the like) with [[assibilation]], [[Sibilant consonant|sibilation]], [[hissing]], or [[Wiktionary:stridency|stridency]].<ref name="beyond"/> |
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Professors Henry Rogers and Ron Smyth at the [[University of Toronto]] investigated this. |
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<blockquote>According to Rogers, people can usually differentiate gay- and straight-sounding voices based on certain phonetic patterns. "We have identified a number of phonetic characteristics that seem to make a man’s voice sound gay," says Rogers. Their best hunch so far is that some gay men may be subconsciously imitating certain female speech patterns and if this is true, "We want to know how men acquire this way of speaking."<ref name="toronto">[http://www.newsandevents.utoronto.ca/bin2/020218c.asp Researchers examine patterns in gay speech]</ref></blockquote> |
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A study at [[Stanford University]] involving a small sample group investigated claims that people can identify gay males by their speech and that these listeners use pitch range and fluctuation in deciding.<ref name="gaudio">Gaudio, Rudolph (1994) "Sounding Gay: Pitch Properties in the Speech of Gay and Straight Men." ''American Speech'' 69: 30-57.</ref> Results were inconclusive:<blockquote>Although he found that listeners could distinguish gay from straight men, he failed to find any convincing empirical differences in pitch between these two groups. [...] This study is representative of others that have failed to find concrete differences in the speech of gay and straight men.<ref name=glbtq>[http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/gayspeak.html Gayspeak]. [[glbtq.com]].</ref></blockquote> |
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In a similar study of female speakers, it was found that listeners could not tell lesbian speakers from heterosexual speakers. Other studies of lesbian identity do make references to voice use by lesbians typically using lower pitch and more direct communication styles.<ref name="atkins">Atkins, Dawn (1998) "Looking Queer: Body Image and Identity in Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, and Transgender Communities"</ref> |
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== See also == |
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* [[Gaydar]] |
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* [[LGBT stereotypes]] |
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* [[Lisp]] |
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* [[Swish (slang)]] |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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== External resources == |
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*[http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/gayspeak.html Encyclopedia article on "gay speak"] |
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*[http://www.joeclark.org/soundinggay.html Economist article on sounding gay] |
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*[http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/codemix.htm Beyond Lisping: Code Switching and Gay Speech Styles] |
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*[http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=164005 Male voices and perceived sexual orientation: An experimental and theoretical approach] |
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{{LGBT |culture=yes}} |
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[[Category:Human voice]] |
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[[Category:LGBT culture]] |
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[[Category:Sociolinguistics]] |
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[[Category:Stereotypes]] |
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Revision as of 19:19, 10 March 2009
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