Odd intonation/voice quality

Post Reply New Topic

I've always tended to enunciate strongly, therefore I was asked often as a kid if I was English, and have been presumed to be gay ever since. I still have what you would conventionally call an Australian accent, but it's more like Geoffrey Rush or Hugo Weaving than your average Aussie bloke. Ironically it's much stronger when I sing than when I speak, which drove my singing teacher nuts. Especially when we were working on a French or Italian piece; it was like, "taaww-ray-a-daawwrrr-on-gaaahh-daayyyy....."

Various people believe that I have an English accent. Not as much now, but it still happens.

I don't like my speaking voice's general sound but don't think it particularly odd.

And I've met a few AS people in real life, some of whom sounded completely normal.

I've heard others on the spectrum, though, who did have unusual voices, very soft or childlike or with greater variation of pitch than normal, not the monotone of the Rain Man.

Anyway...

I like many with AS have long liked big words and precise speech, which I think sometimes gives Americans the impression we're somewhat English.

I remember when I was about 7 I got the idea that showing off my grown-up-sounding vocabulary was cool. A little professor was born!

Then not long after that I twigged that this quality was identified with the English (at least that's Americans' idea of the English) and ever since I've more or less run with that, even, when I was 10, seriously trying to pass myself off as a Brit. I think people at school just went along with it. (That was a relatively happy year!)

Since then of course I've lived there (Oxford) and been back to visit. (London's great and the North is friendly.)

So I know I don't sound English. (But if people think I do I'm flattered.) Just a little different to what's around me.

The sound I aim for: think Kelsey Grammer, Christopher Plummer or the late Peter Jennings. Mid-Atlantic. Recognisably North American but suggesting the BBC sound as well.

My husband, who thinks that his voice sounds normal but is always surprised by the way it sounds on the answering machine, will often say certain words in a falsetto voice. Other than that it is very monotone, but then these very high pitched words will pop out of nowhere.

Also, he was born and raised in Los Angeles but sounds like he is from an asian or pacific island country.

When I talk on the phone, people always ask how old I am or if they can speak to my parents, because they think I'm a child. I don't think I have an accent, though.

The placement of the tongue in the mouth, or against the roof of the mouth evokes different accents. for example, you can pronounce 'L' with the tip of your tongue against your mouth-roof, or you can press the center area of the tongue there. Also, you can use the area behind the front teeth, or touch further back.

Various combinations of tongue-age with evoke a continental, british or north american accent.

Is there a way to "practice" with your voice so someone doesn't sound so monotone?

Through childhood my voice was a piercing, high pitched, glass shattering shriek From adolescence to adulthood the tone and pitch can vary at different times of the day; though marked with oddity, it is not consistent.

Often times when I hear myself talk after the fact (like on any kind of recorder) I cant believe its me talking. Also Ive given up on talking on the phone because people can never understand my accent (which I dont know how to describe) on it but they can in person, maybe because they can see my lips too :shrugs:.

_________________
"we never get respect ... never a fair trial
[swearing removed by lau] ... as long as we smile"
Im tired of smiling.

Vote for me in 2020

I used to have a very English accent in childhood, but after much teasing and excess baggage later, I had to adopt an Australian accent - I still can't get it right (too educated-sounding, I don't slur my words enough - e.g. for the word "pronunciation", pro-NUN-ciashun instead of pro-NOWN-ciashuon), and it feels much more comfortable for me to speak in an English or similar accent (Björk's accent for example), or for that matter a few other foreign accents.

I too have been told I sound english even though I am Australian born and never stepped foot in England. People have also told me I speak with authority and speak overproportionately louder when I feel under pressure or nervous. I've also received commentary on the choice of words I use to describe things, as it is usually more formal than the situation requires. But I say if the word fits, use it!

I haven't really had any comments on the way i speak Dutch.
Just comments from people saying i sound southern.
Wich is kinda normal since i'm from the south of the Netherlands.