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Old 10-07-2014, 12:10 PM
 
4,792 posts, read 6,051,688 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BajanYankee View Post
I don't know if you can tell a White person from Asian person (depending upon how assimilated said Asian person is). But it's generally pretty easy to distinguish a Black voice from a White voice (that goes for speaking and singing).
Says you. In my opinion, once accents are the same and word choice is the same, there is no way to tell. I was on the phone with a Black prospective client (I knew she was Black only because someone told me she was) and she sounded like a regular Upper Midwestern girl. Turns out she was from Detroit, born and raised. But she sounded more Chicago (and I mean "White" Chicago) than any White person I ever met from here. In Chi, Blacks and Whites sometimes sound different but that's because the Whites here have ties to Europe and the Blacks do to the South.

Shoot, BLACK people used to say I sounded Black as hell on the phone when I went to high school. Being that I grew up around Blacks I only sounded like them because it was all I knew. The Chicago "blaccent" as they call it. Little Southern, little Midwest kind of thing. Anyway, I was on the phone with my white friend's girlfriend (he was introducing me to her), she had never met me, and when she first me she was surprised because she was expecting a Black man, not some hairy Mediterranean fellow. I dated a Mexican girl back then who I could have SWORN was Black just by her voice when I met her. Turns out she was just Mexican, but she grew up around Blacks.

I hear Spike Lee speak and to me he sounds just like any New York Jew.

Put someone in an environment where all they hear is the sound of a certain voice, and then they'll sound it. It worked with me, and it worked with others that grew up around Blacks. Conversely, it happens with Blacks who grow up around only Whites.
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Old 10-07-2014, 12:11 PM
 
Location: Cumberland County, NJ
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BajanYankee View Post
I don't know if you can tell a White person from Asian person (depending upon how assimilated said Asian person is). But it's generally pretty easy to distinguish a Black voice from a White voice (that goes for speaking and singing).
I completely agree with this statement. I have never mistaken a White male for having a Black male's voice.
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Old 10-07-2014, 12:20 PM
 
4,792 posts, read 6,051,688 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gwillyfromphilly View Post
I completely agree with this statement. I have never mistaken a White male for having a Black male's voice.
There is no proof that being of a different race affects this. If it doesn't change between Whites and Asians, I see NO reason for it to change between Blacks and Whites.

In the article posted a few pages back about Chicago's "blaccent", there was research done that shows that Blacks tend to speak at a lower register than Whites. But that is cultural more than based on any racial difference.

I have mistaken White males for having Black voices. Rare, but it happens. It's probably cultural in that Whites try less to "be black" as a whole than Blacks try to "be White". Have you ever heard Eric Clapton sing? I know many people who thought he sounded Black. Same with Michael McDonald.
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Old 10-07-2014, 12:24 PM
 
Location: USA
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Not that it is impossible, but I never met any white people who
were fluent in any african language, and if so, I wonder if they
sound weird or what speaking it to the natives.


Whites have very thin lips compared to blacks, so I can somewhat
see why we would naturally pronounce words totally differently.
Our features are just so much different from each other. We barely
have anything in common other than national origin.

Whites and Asians have more in common with each other than us.
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Old 10-07-2014, 01:52 PM
 
4,792 posts, read 6,051,688 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 11KAP View Post
Not that it is impossible, but I never met any white people who
were fluent in any african language, and if so, I wonder if they
sound weird or what speaking it to the natives.


Whites have very thin lips compared to blacks, so I can somewhat
see why we would naturally pronounce words totally differently.
Our features are just so much different from each other. We barely
have anything in common other than national origin.

Whites and Asians have more in common with each other than us.
Notice I said when words are pronounced the same/accent is the same. That is when I said Blacks and Whites should have no reason to sound different.

The whole "Whites have thin lips" is ridiculous. So does that mean Mick Jagger should sound like a Black guy because of his mouth? Similarly, what about when Blacks have thin lips? For example, have you ever met East Africans? They have thin lips. Are they supposed to sound like White people if they are born in Western nations and adopt Westernized culture?

I don't see anything about Blacks that should lend itself to their voice sounding different, unless their larynx is built differently.
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Old 10-07-2014, 02:31 PM
 
Location: Who Cares, USA
2,341 posts, read 3,594,946 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool View Post
So does that mean Mick Jagger should sound like a Black guy because of his mouth?
Lord knows Mick Jagger has made a career out of TRYING to sound (and move) like a black man.
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Old 10-07-2014, 02:40 PM
 
Location: USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool View Post
Notice I said when words are pronounced the same/accent is the same. That is when I said Blacks and Whites should have no reason to sound different.

The whole "Whites have thin lips" is ridiculous. So does that mean Mick Jagger should sound like a Black guy because of his mouth? Similarly, what about when Blacks have thin lips? For example, have you ever met East Africans? They have thin lips. Are they supposed to sound like White people if they are born in Western nations and adopt Westernized culture?

I don't see anything about Blacks that should lend itself to their voice sounding different, unless their larynx is built differently.

It doesn't matter to me if you don't agree. I'm just giving you my opinion.
I gave you the reasons, but If you don't like it, figure it out for yourself if
you think you know everything.
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Old 10-07-2014, 02:42 PM
 
4,792 posts, read 6,051,688 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 11KAP View Post
It doesn't matter to me if you don't agree. I'm just giving you my opinion.
If you don't like it, figure it out for yourself if you think you know everything.
We are obviously not the same, don't think the same and don't naturally talk
the same, so get over it.
You have no proof of this other than your opinion. It's not up to ME to figure out something when I didn't make the claim.
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Old 10-07-2014, 02:46 PM
 
Location: One of the 13 original colonies.
10,190 posts, read 7,950,448 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BajanYankee View Post
I don't know if you can tell a White person from Asian person (depending upon how assimilated said Asian person is). But it's generally pretty easy to distinguish a Black voice from a White voice (that goes for speaking and singing).


I agree. I can almost always tell a black person just listening to the voice and words spoken. To me it is very easy to distinguish a black persons voice.
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Old 10-07-2014, 02:48 PM
 
Location: USA
8,011 posts, read 11,400,569 times
Reputation: 3454
Quote:
Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool View Post
You have no proof of this other than your opinion. It's not up to ME to figure out something when I didn't make the claim.

Cool out, homey! If you want to be miserable and not use common sense, that's your problem, so go ahead and keep ranting and raving at someone else. Maybe it's those bird lips that keep you from figuring simple cultural and physical differences out. I guess unless someone like you explains it, you won't listen.
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