Abstract
The widely cited frequency code hypothesis attempts to explain a diverse range of communicative phenomena through the acoustic projection of body size. The set of phenomena includes size sound symbolism (using /i/ to signal smallness in words such as teeny), intonational phonology (using rising contours to signal questions) and the indexing of social relations via vocal modulation, such as lowering one's voice pitch to signal dominance. Among other things, the frequency code is commonly interpreted to suggest that polite speech should be universally signalled via high pitch owing to the association of high pitch with small size and submissiveness. We present a cross-cultural meta-analysis of polite speech of 101 speakers from seven different languages. While we find evidence for cross-cultural variation, voice pitch is on average lower when speakers speak politely, contrary to what the frequency code predicts. We interpret our findings in the light of the fact that pitch has a multiplicity of possible communicative meanings. Cultural and contextual variation determines which specific meanings become manifest in a specific interactional context. We use the evidence from our meta-analysis to propose an updated view of the frequency code hypothesis that is based on the existence of many-to-many mappings between speech acoustics and communicative interpretations.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Voice modulation: from origin and mechanism to social impact (Part I)’.
Highlights
Pitch serves numerous functions in human communication
Larger bodies often produce vocalizations with lower frequencies [15,16,17,18], and human listeners perceptually associate low pitch and low resonance frequencies with larger bodies [19,20]. This link between acoustics and body size is proposed to motivate a diverse range of communicative uses of pitch, including the following three related classes of facts: (i) social indexing, such as using vocal modulation to signal dominance and deference; (ii) size sound symbolism, such as using pitch to iconically depict size differences; and (iii) proposed universal tendencies in intonation phonology, in particular the use of rising pitch contours to signal questions [21,22]
Given that participants were free to respond in any way they deemed fit, it is important to emphasize that the responses were not lexically equivalent (as shown in example (1) above). This means that the acoustics will be driven by the specific lexical choices made by participants, which has the potential of introducing confounds, i.e. it is possible that more words with higher intrinsic pitch were uttered in the polite condition
Summary
Pitch serves numerous functions in human communication. In all languages, pitch is used for intonation. As we will discuss below, newer evidence calls into question the claim that high pitch is universally associated with politeness, or at least certain forms of it In addition to these social meanings, Ohala explicitly links the frequency code to the concept of ‘sound symbolism’. 331] offers an explanation for this universal tendency that relates to acoustically projected body size via associated dominance (low-pitched = larger and more dominant; high-pitched = smaller and more submissive) He argues that ‘one need only allow that the person asking a question is, from an informational standpoint, in need of the goodwill and co-operation of the receiver. The diversity of studies motivates the need to have an integrated analysis 4 of those studies that are more directly comparable
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