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Listen to a black person from H-town, then a black person from New Orleans... they sound different.
Listen to a black person from Houston, then a black person from Dallas, even... THEY sound different, and they're in the same state.
I know those are all southern accents, but the point I'M making is that we don't all sound the same...
Kind of how White people from those cities sound different, too.
I personally think Iggy Azalea is a good example of a Black sounding White woman. Same case is with Paul Wall.
I think his voice sounds different from White British actors (i.e., Andrew Lincoln, Dominic West, Hugh Grant). The same goes for Dizzee Rascal, Chipmunk, Donae'o, Estelle, or Chiwetel Ejiofor. The timbre of their voices is different. Then again, if some of you think Rick Astley sounds like a Black person, then there's really no point in having this conversation. It may just be one of those things only Black people pick up on...like clapping on the second and fourth beats.
A number of black people have confused me for white over the phone, including my mother-in-law when I first spoke to her.
This study investigated the measures of central tendency (mean mode) and dispersion (standard deviations and ranges) of the reading fundamental vocal frequency in young black adults. The subjects were 200 (100 males/100 females) college student volunteers whose ages ranged from 18 to 29 years. A fundamental frequency analyzer (FLORIDA I) was used to measure the fundamental vocal frequency. The mean modal fundamental vocal frequency for males was 110.15 Hz, with a mean range from 81.95 Hz to 158.50 Hz. The mean modal fundamental vocal frequency for females was 193.10 Hz, with a mean range from 139.05 Hz to 266.10 Hz. The males showed a slightly greater range expressed in tones than did the females. Compared to a similar white population studied by Fitch & Holbrook (1970), the black population had lower mean modal fundamental vocal frequencies and greater mean frequency ranges. Fitch's white subjects showed a greater range below the mean mode than above it. This behavior was reversed for the black subjects of the present study. Such patterns of vocal behavior may be important clues which alert the listener to the speaker's racial identity.
I'm not surprised that range of tones was slightly greater among black college youth compared to white youth of 40 years ago. I suspect if they were compared to modern white college youth, the difference would be much less.
I also suspect that if you compared southern whites then or today with blacks the results would be similar--southern whites also speak with a noticeably wider frequency range than most non-ethnic northern whites (I'd also note that the white college population of 40 years ago was itself much less ethnic).
If you compared older blacks and whites--no longer callow youths--you will find less of a deviation in comparable professional situations.
And please...don't measure the Chinese for range of frequency.
But all of this is a matter of accent--regional and ethnic speech patterns--not genetics.
We got our accent from Africa first, then America after we learned how to speak English, so it depends where in America we are from how we will sound. Most of us naturally speak broken English and learn proper English later, unless we grow up in a household where our parents speak proper English only. Blacks who speak proper English 24/7 is obviously not the majority and that's why we sound the way we do too, plus the simple fact that it was against the law for us to read the language for about 200 years. It's not easy going everywhere speaking proper English all the time if that's not the way you were raised. That's why some white people have a hard time understanding what we say.
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.
As could I. Never could mistake a Black persons voice from a White person. That's me though.
Kind of how White people from those cities sound different, too.
I personally think Iggy Azalea is a good example of a Black sounding White woman. Same case is with Paul Wall.
I will admit. Back in the day for swishahouse in the late 90s, everybody thought Paul Wall was Black. We were surprised when we saw his face. He grew up around them so maybe it's a product of where you grow up. That said, it's still rare to my ears. Living in DC, I've yet to hear a native white Washingtonian sound like a native black Washingtonian. In fact, I hear someone coming around the corner and he was talking, I can easily tell if the person is black or white in DC.
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