Science

‘Vocal Fry’: Why Are Young Women in the U.S. Trying to Make Their Voices Lower & Creaky?

Britney Spears does it, Lady Gaga too, among many other vocal artists. But scientists are baffled as to why they found a significant amount of young women using the creaky low parts of their voice in everyday speech. Others are saying the “vocal fry,” a low vibration during speech, has been around forever.

Researchers Long Island University (LIU) in Brookville, New York conducted a study of 34 New York state women and found that vocal fry — which has been used by singers to reach lower notes — is becoming increasingly prevalent in everyday speech.

Science Magazine describes a vocal fry as “a low, staccato vibration during speech, produced by a slow fluttering of the vocal cords (listen here)“ that includes the ”lowest of the three vocal registers, which also include falsetto and modal — the usual speaking register.”

According to Science, the researchers had the test subjects read aloud while speech pathologists listened and evaluated. Although the study has yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal — the researchers plan to report it in the Journal of Voice — they state now that two-thirds of the women used vocal fry in speech, most frequently at the end of sentences:

The study is the first to quantify the prevalence of vocal fry in normal speech, although other researchers have noted the pattern. The group is also the first to verify that American women are much more likely to exhibit the behavior than men, as its yet-unpublished data show that male college-age students don’t use the creaky voice. The team’s next steps will attempt to find out when this habit started—and if it is indeed a budding trend.

The researchers also plan to test students in high schools and middle schools to learn why young women creak when they speak. “Young students tend to use it when they get together,” [co-author and speech scientist Nassima] Abdelli-Beruh said. “Maybe this is a social link between members of a group.”

Abdelli-Beruh also wants to compare the prevalence of vocal fry on radio stations. For example, she says that the popular-music station on her teenage son’s dial features creaky announcers, but she does not hear vocal fry on National Public Radio, which targets an older audience.

Science goes on to report Linguist Patricia Keating of the University of California, Los Angeles, as saying that the limited sample size and geographic location of the study make the findings very specific, but states that it’s common for sentences to end in a vocal fry, if the pitch falls.

While the authors of this study call out the increased prevalence of vocal fries as a trend, The Atlantic reports today that it really isn’t a growing trend but has been around “forever” — in both men and women:

But, as Language Log’s Mark Liberman, who is a professor of linguistics at The University of Pennsylvania, points out this isn’t a new anything. “These ‘low creaky vibrations’ have been common since forever,” he writes. “And moderate use, especially at the ends of phrases, has never been considered a speech disorder.”

[...]

In fact, everyone creeks, continues Liberman. “I’d be very surprised to learn that there are any speech communities where vocal fry is not sometimes found in normal, non-pathological speech patterns.” So when the Science article mentions that it does not hear creak on NPR, that’s probably not true.

On the University of Pennsylvania Language Log, Liberman provides a bit of evidence that he believes confirms Keating’s statement that the vocal fry at the end of sentences has “long been a common feature of sentence-final low pitches in American English, and that it’s commoner among female speakers than among male speakers.” The Atlantic reports Liberman as noting that the “trend” might be a change in status for the vocal fry, which has been used by gang members.

Here‘s more about the purpose of a vocal fry and how it’s use in singing:

You may recall Britney Spears’ 2000 hit “Oops! … I Did It Again”, which has a slew of vocal fries if you wish to hear another example.

[H/T Gawker]

Comments (105)

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  • Americanbeliever
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 7:41am

    I think it is mostly laziness. It is also baffling to hear lazy and poor grammar from “professional ” speakers. ie.. using the word why after “That’s the reason“ or ending a sentence with ”at”. Drives me crazy,“you know” ?

    Report Post »  
    • Pouncing Porcupine
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 8:33am

      Or using “i.e.“ instead of ”e.g.” when giving examples? Yeah that bugs me, too.

      Report Post » Pouncing Porcupine  
    • demint.disciple
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 8:37am

      I’ve been saying and noticing this for years. NOW they have a study on it ? I swear I told my girls 19 and 21 that ( as we were watching movies together ) this is making me a misogynist as i was pointing it out I would show them by stopping the tape and saying see there , what is that ? It‘s the most stupid thing for a woman to do this I can’t understand it. They think it makes them sound smart ?

      Report Post » demint.disciple  
    • Bloody Sam
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:49am

      It’s nothing new. Prince has done it on many of his hits. It is very common in Country music.
      That young women are doing it? So what?

      Report Post » Bloody Sam  
    • BobtheMoron
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 10:11am

      @ Pouncing Porcupine I got your i.e. and e.g. hangin’, ya know where I’m at? Thanks for the grammar tip. As a graduate of one of you finest schools, I didn’t learn a lot of English grammar. I did learn how to save the world from Global Cooling. That was the cause of my generation and we really worked it. I remember rallies where as many as ten people showed up. Keep up the grammar, while we all fry in Global Warming. I just love generational disaster.

      Report Post » BobtheMoron  
    • Ruler4You
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 11:05am

      IMHBLO, the young female ‘voices’ today all sound the same. Exactly. Irritating.

      Report Post » Ruler4You  
    • @leftfighter
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 1:54pm

      Well look at this this way? It’s better than ending every question with an upward lilt? As if you were asking a question every sentence? You know? Like Meghan McCain?

      Report Post » @leftfighter  
    • jblaze
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 2:58pm

      I think it sounds weird and disturbing! I have heard people in my own family do this and it always makes me want to stop them and say why are you taking like that! Now I have a name to put to it!

      Report Post » jblaze  
    • Polly Sigh
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 3:47pm

      A personal grammatical/word usage pet peeve….using “amount of” when it should be “number of”
      e.g. “a significant amount of young women”

      Report Post » Polly Sigh  
    • patents
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:03pm

      American Believer, I think you left out “conversate”!!!!

      Report Post »  
  • kickagrandma
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 7:39am

    My first thought was, “Just wait til your older years and your voice starts doing all sorts of weird things like reverse adolescence vocal breaks the boys went through.” However, when I began to read the comments, I realized of what you are speaking (no pun intended!), and I thought, “Oh, my gosh, that silly stuff?” I was a professional speaker most of my younger days. If anyone had spoken with such garbled gibberish, they would have been ignored, dismissed, turned off, left alone in the asylum. I am very disappointed in Martha on Fox News. Her desire to be “in” has overwhelmed her good sense. Because of the way she speaks, I no longer watch her.

    YUCK! Do not see any reason to act dumber than you are.

    Report Post »  
  • sandlakebob
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 7:35am

    This vocal effect must be what I have been calling the “croaky voice”, becoming more common among young woman. I think it just accompanies women’s weight loss craze, and the effort to remove every ounce of fat from their skinny, bony young bodies. Yes, Croaky voice comes with a dried out, scrawny neck, which is very unattractive, but part of the female culture today.

    Report Post »  
  • Moozmom
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 7:18am

    My replacement after retirement is a great, smart young woman I truly admire. Now, if I could just understand what she says.

    Report Post »  
  • WISEPENNY
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 7:17am

    The phenomenon of the “growlers” has infected alot of the youth and is bleeding into even the older women. Fox News‘ Martha McCallum has started getting so infected with the habit that I can’t even listen to her anymore without wanting to throw something at the TV. I have to mute and resort to closed caption. I won’t even watch when she fills in for Megan Kelly. Humans have a tendency to mimic behavior of people they are around, and unfortunately the population of “growlers” is expanding at an alarming rate.

    Report Post »  
    • BehindBlueEyes
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 10:03am

      Martha is a top notch news reported. Without a doubt one of the best.

      Report Post » BehindBlueEyes  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 7:12am

    Whatever.

    Report Post » Gonzo  
    • Red1492
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:59am

      Agreed. Why is this news? I know of no woman that purposefully tries to make herself horse while talking or singing. I have a naturally low voice as do all the men & women in my immediate family. Sang alto and tenor in choir. My voice doesn’t growl, it’s just low. Women can’t win. If their voices are high, men complain. If their voices are too low, men complain. Please yourself and not anyone else. WHO CARES?

      Report Post » Red1492  
  • Rayblue
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 6:58am

    I “spoke” with a female last week while I was trying to get some rayblue t-shirts printed,
    and I could not understand a word she said. It was the “valley girl” dialect I think. I just said OK to everything and hung up and began looking for another printer.
    The gargle-speak in this story is like loose valves on your car engine. Or starting up a diesel on a cold morning. Both of which are not the least bit relatable to an improvement.

    Report Post » Rayblue  
  • BehindBlueEyes
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 6:43am

    Why don’t women try something simple like being themselves. Women are the most vain people on earth.

    Report Post » BehindBlueEyes  
  • SpankDaMonkey
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 6:38am

    .
    The youngest does some kind of growl when she is in one of her moods. But, I’m gonna turn it into a screech one day, when I pop her up side the head………………..

    Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  
    • Gonzo
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 7:12am

      Can you see it yet?

      Report Post » Gonzo  
    • Just A Private
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:30am

      @SpankDaMonkey,
      I hope someone pops you up side the head for the way you talk too

      Report Post » Just A Private  
    • SpankDaMonkey
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 11:50am

      .
      I‘m 6’ 3″ 220lbs come give it a try………..

      Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  
    • Just A Private
      Posted on December 19, 2011 at 10:20pm

      What does your size matter to me? I am 76 inches tall and 260. I just ran 2 miles in 14:38 and yesterday I bicycled 30 miles in 1 hour 41 minutes. Are you trembling yet? Probably not since this is just a discussion board where people use words to communicate. My previous response was a mirror of your own remark about hitting your own offspring just for the way she would speak. I was pointing out that someone should hit you for the way you speak. Its a really stupid idea to hit someone just for words or the sound of their voice. I know people similar to you that say stupid things though, the types of stupid things they say are different as they age. When you were in your late teens and early twenties did you also brag about drinking so much beer you passed out and woke up later covered in your own puke and urine?
      Before you start crying about corporal punishment and not sparing the rod; I do use corporal punishment with my children. I just don’t see it as some measurement of how macho I am if I tell people I “pop her upside the head”. I guess if my genitals were really small I would understand it better.

      Report Post » Just A Private  
  • Cat
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 6:34am

    Wife does it during orgasms

    Cat  
  • StevieBcosta
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 6:28am

    Thank you so much for this article, I’ve noticed this sound in the last two years or so. I can’t stand it, people that talk like this around town on TV in the news or whatever I change the channel it’s so annoying and fake. Most of the time, they are dumb as a box of rocks. I think they are picking it up in the failing public school system as a young thing. Please keep these people from announcing the news, and off TV, and the Public airways.
    I love the Blaze and all of you Merry Christmas.
    PS Tell me how you feel, With Hand signs please. LOL

    Report Post » StevieBcosta  
  • YepImaConservative
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:36am

    What kind of voice can Debbie Wasserman-Schultz’s be described as? Whatever it is, it’s almost as annoying as sitting on an ice cold piece of marble, knowing that your hemorrhoids (if you have ‘em) are being drawn out like a bungie cord. Or so I’ve been told, lol.

    Report Post » YepImaConservative  
    • I.Gaspar
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 7:23am

      She has the voice of “the undead”. If there were really such things as zombies, they would sound (and probably look like) DW-S.

      Report Post »  
  • raderby
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:27am

    ONE of the causes? Lazy tongue. WAY back when Bill Cosby had his first TV, show, he played a sitcom school phys ed teacher. He got picked to do a corn flakes ad, and got a coach to help him. The coach warned him of lazy tongue, as in NOT producing the end T‘s and D’s. etc.
    The youngers today ALL do the end the hard consonant trick of using the glutteral growl instead of forming the letter with the tongue and mouth. LIKE EVERYTHING, it seems, TODAY, laziness is the order of the day. Combine that with societal “go-along-to-get-along” junk and that is it. Like being an “individual” and getting the same butterfly tattoo at the shoulder or back. Or baseball hat wearing, all the exact same way. A uniform, a youthful marching in step, wanting to belong to a collective.

    Report Post » raderby  
    • smokie
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 6:06am

      You jus‘ described my hometow’ dialec’

      Report Post »  
    • demint.disciple
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 8:55am

      @raderby… Seems like it would take more work to do it the lazy way… My father once told me to always remember “ a lazy man works twice as hard ” meaning e.g if the waste paper basket is across the room it is easier to go over and put the paper in, instead of trying to throw it in from across the room for when it falls to the ground, now you have to get up, go over there bend down, pick it up and then “well what do you know ” put it in the basket .. Make sense ? Sorry for the babbling I need another coffee ,or maybe not.

      Report Post » demint.disciple  
  • NOBALONEY
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:22am

    Can they explain Obama’s ssssssssssss ?

    Report Post » NOBALONEY  
    • phineas
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 8:54am

      that ssssssss sound only appears when he is lying, so most of the time

      Report Post »  
    • Lamarr01
      Posted on December 14, 2011 at 1:56am

      The people who sold Obama to the nation used a lot of reverb on the audio mixer when amplifying his voice to make him sound more god-like. The “S” that sounds like a cymbal is the result of pushing the reverb a little too high. They also mixed in a little echo effect to make it sound like he speaking to the masses in a cavern when he was making his pronouncements.

      Bill Clinton developed his raspy voice from years of cocaine abuse. He used the rasp to disguise his voice when he was telling a whopper or wants to sound sincerely convincing.

      Britney Spears has a very limited vocal range of less than an octave and the vocal fry gave her one additional note.

      Report Post » Lamarr01  
  • Diane TX
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:08am

    You all know that people who make a living as professional speakers, often pay good money for voice coaches, don’t you? I wonder who was Barack Obama’s voice coach. Obama wasn’t raised in the “hood”, like most Black men. He was raised by his White grandparents, who happened to be very rich Bankers, who also believed in Communism. You just can’t make this stuff up.

    Barack’s “Father figure” was a male pedophile. You know, one of those – “men who love boys” type of guy. Barack is NOT the first Black, American, President because he is half White. Do we disregard his White heritage, and only acknowledge his sperm-donner father? He uses his father’s name that played no part in his life, for political purposes, only. It can‘t get more stupid that Black people vote for someone who isn’t really “one of them”.

    Report Post »  
  • Rowgue
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 3:32am

    Yeah because this is a really important issue that we need to research immediately. Get that grant money flowing.

    Report Post »  
    • RossPoldark
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:53am

      You said it. This is so vital to the security of our nation.

      Report Post »  
    • mike_trivisonno
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 7:12am

      Welfare Science. This crap is a joke as are the “scientists” that engage in such activities.

      Report Post » mike_trivisonno  
  • rickbob
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 3:12am

    Watched White Christmas last night with my wife. No one can sing like Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Frank Sinatra, et. al. any more. Kind of sad. . .

    Report Post » rickbob  
  • idarusskie
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 3:04am

    this is a gay thread

    Report Post »  
  • Gypsy123
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 2:16am

    Music today is not music it is words thrown together and notes in the most confusing irrational way they can. More like cats in a fight.

    Report Post » Gypsy123  
    • momsense
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:39am

      Music today isn’t even music–its a conglomertion of swear words tied together with jungle drums and a jungle beat. you can’t dance to it, it’s strictly for mob incitement and tribal councils.

      Report Post »  
  • BurntHills
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 1:20am

    disgusting, stupid, typical. we remember good old SINGING, not this stupid inane crap

    Report Post » BurntHills  
  • sunnyblack
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 1:16am

    I have noticed that younger women these days do have increasingly annoying voices.

    Report Post »  
    • Marci
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 1:51am

      Sunny, I agree. I have noticed a trend in what I call the cartoon voice. It drives me insane. I can’t stand the fake squeaky child like voice coming out of grown women, that and the constant misuse of the word “like”.

      Report Post » Marci  
    • ldaopines
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 2:56am

      The most annoying one to me is the fake “Little Girl” voice. Ugh…

      Report Post »  
    • PV
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:13am

      You are so right. A lot of young women on tv have horrible nasally voices AND vocal fry. It’s like fingers on a chalkboard.

      Report Post »  
  • blaaaaackwoman
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 1:13am

    Well I posted this video in some other threads but hey ladies here is a woman vocal coach giving lessons on how to use the upper registers of your voice. These upper registers are very feminine if you ask me and well worth the practice to make some sweet sweet sounds..

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbFq4FcM7ko

    Report Post »  
    • LimaBean
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 1:20pm

      she’s screaming. screaming is not singing.

      Report Post » LimaBean  
  • pamela kay
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 1:08am

    I have only one comment. Who cares?

    Report Post » pamela kay  
    • Taxpayer550
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 7:27am

      I agree.

      Bill Clinton has been using this technique for years.

      One of the reasons why women use the vocal fry is to give their voices a more intimate, “bed pillow”, sexy kind of whisper. It works only with shallow, gullible, and naive guys.

      Report Post » Taxpayer550  
    • demint.disciple
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:04am

      @pamela kay.. It‘s not like I care It’s just very annoying and the worst part about it is you CAN’T just not listen or change the channel if it is happening right in front of you..

      Report Post » demint.disciple  
  • blaaaaackwoman
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 1:07am

    Too much use of vibrators, that’s the cause.

    Report Post »  
  • Jenny Lind
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 1:04am

    On a night like tonight you put this up? Are you nuts Blaze-sonot in the mood for pudding, or tripe.

    Report Post »  
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