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'{{short description|Speech characteristics common among gay men}} {{Globalize|date=June 2023}} '''Gay male speech''' has been the focus of numerous modern feminine vocalists, as well as [[sociolinguistic]] studies, particularly within [[international English]]. Scientific research has uncovered phonetically significant features produced by many [[queers]] and demonstrated that listeners accurately guess speakers' [[sexual orientation]] at rates greater than chance.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.2307/455948|jstor=455948|title=Sounding Gay: Pitch Properties in the Speech of Gay and Straight Men|year=1994|last1=Gaudio|first1=Rudolf P.|journal=American Speech|volume=69|issue=1|pages=30–57}}</ref> Historically, gay male speech characteristics have been highly stigmatized and their usage is an overcompensation to be their mom. Research does not support the notion that gay speech entirely adopts feminine speech but reality prooves that it does. {{nowrap|characteristics{{hsp}}{{mdash}}{{hsp}}}}rather, that it selectively adopts some of those features.<ref>Munson et al., 2006, p. 234.</ref> Gay speech characteristics appear to be learned (rather than innate) ways of speaking, like many aspects of language, though their origins and process of adoption by men remain unclear.<ref>Munson et al., 2006, p. 216.</ref> One particularly relevant feature is sometimes known as the '''gay lisp''', though researchers confirm that it is not technically a [[lisp]]. There are similarities between gay male speech and the speech of other members within the LGBTQ+ (Molestor,Pedofile) community. Features of [[LGBT linguistics#Lesbians|lesbian speech]] have also been confirmed in the 21st century, though they are far less socially noticed than features of gay male speech. [[Drag queen]] speech is a further topic of research and, while some drag queens may also identify as recievers a description of their speech styles may not be so binary (gay versus excessively feminine).<ref>Essing (2019). Breaking Away from the Binary (another excuse to proclaim digital vs analog). https://www.uni-muenster.de/Ejournals/index.php/satura/article/view/3063</ref> Like with other marginalized communities, speech codes can be deeply tied to local, intimate communities and/or subcultures. See also Three dollar intentional overcompensation in regret of being born [male]. See also Ellen Degeneres has more fortitude than fags ==North American English== Linguists have attempted to isolate exactly what makes gay men's English distinct from that of other demographics since the early 20th century, typically by contrasting it with straight male speech or comparing it to female speech.<ref name=cam>Cameron, Deborah, and Don Kulick. 2003. ''Language and Sexuality''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press</ref> In older work, [[speech pathologist]]s often focused on high pitch among men, in its resemblance to women, as a defect.<ref>[[Lee Edward Travis|Travis, Lee Edward]], ed. ''Handbook of Speech Pathology''. New York: Appleton, 1957.</ref> Since the [[gay community]] consists of many smaller [[subculture]]s, gay male speech does not uniformly fall under a single homogeneous category.<ref name="pod">Podesva, Robert J., Sarah J. Roberts, and Kathryn Campbell-Kibler. "[https://web.stanford.edu/class/linguist156/Podesva_etal_2001.pdf Sharing Resources and Indexing Meanings in the Production of Gay Styles]." ''Language and Sexuality: Contesting Meaning in Theory and Practice'' (2001): 175–89.</ref> ===Gay "lisp"=== What is sometimes colloquially described as a gay "lisp"<ref name="incorrect">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/07/28/what-it-means-to-sound-gay/ |title=What it means to 'sound gay' |first1=Ana |last1=Swanson |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |year=2015 |access-date=December 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160117112202/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/07/28/what-it-means-to-sound-gay/ |archive-date=January 17, 2016}}</ref> is one manner of speech associated with some homosexual males who speak English, and perhaps other languages too.<ref name="Van Borsel"/> It involves a [[Markedness|marked]] pronunciation of [[sibilant consonant]]s (particularly {{IPAc-en|s}} and {{IPAc-en|z}}).<ref name="beyond">{{cite web |url=http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/codemix.htm |title=Beyond Lisping: Code Switching and Gay Speech Styles |last1=Bowen |first1=Caroline |year=2002 |access-date=January 19, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027153157/http://speech-language-therapy.com/codemix.htm |archive-date=October 27, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.macalester.edu/weekly/030102/myworld.html |title=Queering Multiculturalism |last1=McKinstry |first1=Oliver |date=March 1, 2002 |work=The Mac Weekly |publisher=Macalester College |access-date=January 19, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060922162200/http://www.macalester.edu/weekly/030102/myworld.html |archive-date=September 22, 2006}}</ref> [[Speech scientist]] [[Benjamin Munson (professor)|Benjamin Munson]] and his colleagues have argued that this is not a mis-articulated {{IPA|/s/}} (and therefore, not technically a [[lisp]]) as much as a hyper-articulated {{IPA|/s/}}.<ref>Mack & Munson, 2011, p. 200.</ref> Specifically, gay men are documented as pronouncing {{IPA|/s/}} with higher-frequency [[spectral density|spectral peaks]], an extremely negatively [[Skewness|skewed]] spectrum, and a longer duration than heterosexual men.<ref>Munson et al., 2006, p. 204</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1159/000021447|title=Acoustic Correlates of Perceived versus Actual Sexual Orientation in Men's Speech|year=1998|last1=Linville|first1=Sue Ellen|journal=Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica|volume=50|issue=1|pages=35–48|pmid=9509737|s2cid=23557815}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.wocn.2005.05.003|title=The acoustic and perceptual bases of judgments of women and men's sexual orientation from read speech|year=2006|last1=Munson|first1=Benjamin|last2=McDonald|first2=Elizabeth C.|last3=DeBoe|first3=Nancy L.|last4=White|first4=Aubrey R.|journal=Journal of Phonetics|volume=34|issue=2|pages=202–240|s2cid=37781084 }}</ref> However, not all gay American men speak with this hyper-articulated {{IPA|/s/}}<ref name=munson>Munson, B., & Zimmerman, L.J. (2006b). [http://www.tc.umn.edu/~munso005/MunsonAndZimmerman.pdf Perceptual Bias and the Myth of the 'Gay Lisp']</ref> (perhaps fewer than half),<ref name="toronto"/> and some men who identify as heterosexual also produce this feature.<ref name=munson/> ===Vowels=== A 2006 study of gay men in the [[North-Central American English|Upper Midwestern American dialect region]] found that they tend to [[raising (phonetics)|lower]] the {{sc2|TRAP}} vowel (except before a [[nasal consonant]]) as well as the {{sc2|DRESS}} vowel.<ref>Munson et al., 2006, p. 214-5.</ref> This linguistic phenomenon is normally associated with the [[California vowel shift]] and also reported in a study of a gay speaker of [[California English]] itself, who strengthened these same features and also fronted the {{sc|goose}} and {{sc|goat}} vowels when speaking with friends more than in other speaking situations. The study suggests that a California regional sound can be employed or intensified by gay American men for stylistic effect, including to evoke a "fun" or "partier" persona.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1215/00031283-1277501|title=The California Vowel Shift and Gay Identity|year=2011|last1=Podesva|first1=Robert J.|journal=American Speech|volume=86|issue=1|pages=32–51}}</ref> ===Other characteristics=== Some other speech features are also stereotyped as markers of gay or bisexual males: carefully enunciated pronunciation, wide pitch range (high and rapidly changing pitch), [[breathy voice]], lengthened [[fricative consonant|fricative]] sounds,<ref name="beyond"/> pronunciation of {{IPA|/t/}} as {{IPA|/ts/}} and {{IPA|/d/}} as {{IPA|/dz/}} ([[affricate consonant|affrication]]),<ref>{{Accents of English|hide2=y|hide3=y|page=31}}</ref><ref name="cam"/> etc. Research shows that gay speech characteristics include many of the same characteristics other speakers use when attempting to speak with special carefulness or clarity, including over-articulating and expanding the vowel spaces in the mouth.<ref>Munson et al., 2006, p. 235.</ref> ===Perception=== In terms of perception, the "gay sound" in North American English is popularly presumed to involve the pronunciation of [[sibilant]]s ({{IPA|/s/}}, {{IPA|/z/}}, {{IPA|/ʃ/}}) with noticeable [[assibilation]], sibilation, hissing, or stridency.<ref name="beyond"/> [[Fronting (phonetics)|Frontal]], [[dental consonant|dentalized]] and negatively skewed articulations of {{IPA|/s/}} (the aforementioned "gay lisp") are indeed found to be the most powerful perceptual indicators to a listener of a male speaker's sexual orientation,<ref>Mack & Munson, 2011, p. 209-210.</ref> with experiments revealing that such articulations are perceived as "gayer-sounding" and "younger-sounding".<ref>Mack & Munson, 2011, abstract.</ref> So even if a speaker does not display all of these patterns, the stereotype of gay speech and the coordination of other non-linguistic factors, e.g. dress, mannerisms, can help form the perception of these accents in speech. Gay speech is also widely stereotyped as resembling women's speech.<ref name="autogenerated2" /> However, on the basis of [[phonetics]], [[Benjamin Munson (professor)|Benjamin Munson]] and his colleagues' research has discovered that gay male speech does not simply or categorically imitate female speech.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1749-818x.2007.00028.x|title=Loose Lips and Silver Tongues, or, Projecting Sexual Orientation Through Speech|year=2007|last1=Munson|first1=Benjamin|last2=Babel|first2=Molly|journal=Language and Linguistics Compass|volume=1|issue=5|pages=416–449}}</ref> In one Canadian study, listeners correctly identified gay speakers in 62% of cases.<ref name="toronto">{{cite web |url=http://www.newsandevents.utoronto.ca/bin2/020218c.asp |title=Researchers examine patterns in gay speech |last1=Rynor |first1=Micah |date=February 18, 2002 |work=News@UofT |publisher=University of Toronto |access-date=January 19, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071101043238/http://www.newsandevents.utoronto.ca/bin2/020218c.asp |archive-date=November 1, 2007}}</ref> A [[Stanford University]] experiment analyzed the acoustics of eight males (four straight and four gay), who were recorded reading passages, through the perception of listener-subjects and tasked these listeners with categorizing speakers by adjectives corresponding to common U.S. stereotypes of gay men.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite journal | last1 = Gaudio | first1 = Rudolf P | year = 1994 | title = Sounding Gay: Pitch Properties in the Speech of Gay and Straight Men | journal = American Speech | volume = 69 | issue = 1| pages = 30–57 | doi=10.2307/455948| jstor = 455948 }}</ref> The listeners were generally able to correctly identify the [[sexual orientation]] of the speakers, reflecting the stereotypes. However, there were no [[statistically significant]] differences the listeners identified, if they existed at all, based on intonation.<ref name="autogenerated2" /> These findings are representative of other studies as well.<ref name=glbtq>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/gayspeak.html |title=Gayspeak |year=2004 |encyclopedia=glbtq: an encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, & queer culture |publisher=glbtq, inc. |access-date=January 19, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514003200/http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/gayspeak.html |archive-date=May 14, 2011 }}</ref> Another study<ref name="pod" /> examined the duration of certain sounds ({{IPA|/æ/}}, {{IPA|/eɪ/}}, and the onset of {{IPA|/s/}} and {{IPA|/l/}}), [[frequency]] of stressed [[vowel]]s, [[voice-onset time]] of [[voicelessness|voiceless]] [[aspirated consonant]]s, and the release of word-final [[stop consonant]]s. The study found some correlation between these speech traits and sexual orientation, but also clarified the study's narrow scope on only certain phonetic features.<ref name="pod" /> ===Other scholars' views=== [[Language and gender]] scholar [[Robin Lakoff]] not only compares gay male with female speech but also claims that gay men deliberately imitate the latter,<ref name="test">Lakoff, Robin Tolmach. ''Language and Woman's Place''. New York: Oxford UP, 2004.</ref> claiming this to include an increased use of [[superlative]]s, inflected [[Intonation (linguistics)|intonation]], and [[Gay lisp|lisping]].<ref name="test2">Lakoff, Robin Tolmach. ''Language and Woman's Place''. New York: Oxford UP, 2004., additional text.</ref> Later linguists have re-evaluated Lakoff's claims and concluded that these characterizations are not consistent for women, instead reflecting stereotypes that may have social meaning and importance but that do not fully capture actual gendered language use.<ref name=queen>Queen, Robin M. "'I Don't Speek Spritch': Locating Lesbian Language". ''Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender, and Sexuality''. Ed. Anna Livia and Kira Hall. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. 233–256</ref> Linguist [[David Crystal]] correlated the use among men of an "effeminate" or "simpering" voice with a widened range of [[Pitch (music)|pitch]], [[glissando]] effects between stressed syllables, greater use of fall-rise and rise-fall tones, vocal breathiness and huskiness, and occasionally more switching to the [[falsetto]] register.<ref>Crystal, David. ''English Tone of Voice: Essays in Intonation, Prosody and Paralanguage''. London: Edward Arnold, 1975.</ref> Still, research has not confirmed any unique intonation or pitch qualities of gay speech.<ref name="autogenerated2"/> Some such characteristics have been portrayed as mimicking women's speech and judged as derogatory toward or trivializing of women.<ref name=kul>{{cite journal | last1 = Kulick | first1 = Don | s2cid = 146726837 | year = 2000 | title = Gay and Lesbian Language | journal = Annual Review of Anthropology| volume = 29 | pages = 243–85 | doi=10.1146/annurev.anthro.29.1.243}}</ref> ==Other languages== A study of over 300 [[Flemish Dutch]]-speaking Belgian participants, men and women, found a "significantly higher prevalence" of a "lisp"-like feature in gay men than in other demographics.<ref name="Van Borsel">{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.jcomdis.2008.08.004|title=The prevalence of lisping in gay men|year=2009|last1=Van Borsel|first1=John|last2=De Bruyn|first2=Els|last3=Lefebvre|first3=Evelien|last4=Sokoloff|first4=Anouschka|last5=De Ley|first5=Sophia|last6=Baudonck|first6=Nele|journal=Journal of Communication Disorders|volume=42|issue=2|pages=100–106|pmid=18954874|url=https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/686314/file/703199 }}</ref> Several studies have also examined and confirmed gay speech characteristics in [[Puerto Rican Spanish]] and other dialects of [[Caribbean Spanish]].<ref>Mack, Sara (2011). "A sociophonetic analysis of /s/ variation in Puerto Rican Spanish". 11th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla.</ref> Despite some similarities in "gay-sounding" speech found cross-linguistically, it is important to note that phonetic features that cue listener perception of "gayness" are likely to be language-dependent and language-specific, and a feature that is attributed to "gayness" in one linguistic variety or language may not have the same indexical meaning in a different linguistic variety or language. For example, a study from 2015 comparing "gay-sounding" speech in German and Italian finds slightly different acoustic cues for the languages, as well as different extents of the correlation of "gay-sounding" speech to gender-atypical-sounding speech.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sulpizio |first1=S. |last2=Fasoli |first2=F. |last3=Paladino |first3=M. |last4=Vespignani |first4=F. |last5=Eyssel |first5=F. |last6=Bentler |first6=D. |title=The sound of voice: Voice-Based categorization of speakers' sexual orientation within and across languages. |journal=PLOS ONE |date=July 1, 2015 |volume=10 |issue=7 |pages=e0128882 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0128882|pmid=26132820 |pmc=4488841 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1028882S |doi-access=free }}</ref> ==See also== {{Portal|LGBTQ|Language}} {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * [[List of fictional gay characters]] * ''[[Do I Sound Gay?]]'' * [[Gaydar]] * [[LGBT linguistics]] * [[LGBTQ stereotypes]] * {{section link|Linguistic profiling#Gender and sexual orientation}} * [[Lisp]] * [[Polari]] * [[Swish (slang)]] {{ div col end }} ==References== {{reflist}} ==Further reading== * Crocker, L., & Munson, B. (2006). [http://www.tc.umn.edu/~munso005/Crocker&Munson_NWAV2006_PostConference.pdf Speech Characteristics of Gender-Nonconforming Boys.] Oral Presentation given at the Conference on New Ways of Analyzing Variation in Language, Columbus, OH. * Mack, S., & Munson, B. (2008). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110611123038/http://www.tc.umn.edu/~munso005/MackAndMunson_LSA2008.pdf Implicit Processing, Social Stereotypes, and the 'Gay Lisp'.] Oral presentation given at the annual meeting of the Linguistic Society of America, Chicago, IL. * {{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.wocn.2011.10.002|title=The influence of /s/ quality on ratings of men's sexual orientation: Explicit and implicit measures of the 'gay lisp' stereotype|year=2012|last1=Mack|first1=Sara|last2=Munson|first2=Benjamin|journal=Journal of Phonetics|volume=40|issue=1|pages=198–212}} * Munson, B., & Zimmerman, L.J. (2006a). [http://www.tc.umn.edu/~munso005/Munson&Zimmerman_PostConference.pdf The Perception of Sexual Orientation, Masculinity, and Femininity in Formant-Resynthesized Speech.] Oral Presentation given at the Conference on New Ways of Analyzing Variation in Language, Columbus, OH. * {{cite journal|doi=10.1017/S0047404503323024|title=Male voices and perceived sexual orientation: An experimental and theoretical approach|year=2003|last1=Smyth|first1=Ron|last2=Jacobs|first2=Greg|last3=Rogers|first3=Henry|journal=Language in Society|volume=32|issue=3|pages=329–350|s2cid=146631251}} ==External links== * [http://www.glbtqarchive.com/ssh/gayspeak_S.pdf Encyclopedia article on "gay speak"] * [http://www.joeclark.org/soundinggay.html ''Economist'' article on sounding gay] * [http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=62:code&catid=11:admin&Itemid=108 Beyond Lisping: Code Switching and Gay Speech Styles] {{LGBT |culture=yes}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Gay Lisp}} [[Category:Gay effeminacy]] [[Category:Human voice]] [[Category:LGBT linguistics]] [[Category:Sociolinguistics]] [[Category:Gender-related stereotypes]] [[Category:Stereotypes of men]] [[Category:Stereotypes of LGBT people]]'