Thursday, July 02, 2009

Strange...

I wonder if anyone can tell me why my speaking voice is so much higher-pitched when I speak German compared to when I speak English?

It's definitely a noticeable difference. So what's up with that?

Anyone? Bueller?

11 comments:

Bonnie said...

My speaking voice goes up when I speak Spanish...it might be because you're not used to the consonant sounds as much as with English, so you force more air out in order to accomplish the sounds. When air moves faster through your vocal cords, the pitch will naturally go up. It's a thought, anyway. :-)

It's easier for me to sing higher pitches when I'm singing in a foreign language than when I'm singing in English. That's always weirded me out.

Buck said...

Ya got me! My voice is the same pitch in either language I speak. Or used to speak, as the case may be.

Sonja said...

I don't know why, but the same thing happens to The Husband when he speaks German.

Christina RN LMT said...

Squeaky, I suppose that's a possibility, though I'm fluent enough in the language to fool native speakers. I just think it's totally weird. As far as the singing goes, I've never noticed either way. Some sounds are easier to sing when singing high notes, that's for sure!

Buck, I don't know, it's just very strange.

Sonja, really?! I'm not the only one? Now that I think on it, Silver told me the same thing happens to her when she speaks Japanese...hmmmm.

Anonymous said...

Nun Liebsten, es könnte daran liegen, dass Sie enunciating ein bisschen klarer.

Dick

BDP

Anonymous said...

In other words, you simply force it a bit more.
Gutten tagge

Christina RN LMT said...

Vielleicht hast Du recht, mein Freund. Oder aber auch NICHT! Ha!

It shall remain a mystery, I fear.

Anonymous said...

That IS strange!

Christina RN LMT said...

Tally, have you noticed a difference in pitch in your speaking voice when you speak German? What about Chaos?

Miz Minka said...

I know these days my German sounds more American, not because of pronunciation, but because of inflection. To me, Americans speak with more animation, while as Germans do tend to do the "monotone drone" quite often...

No pitch differences here though.

BTW, I just visited my long neglected German blog and found two of your comments from the beginning of June... (*hangs head in shame*). A very belated "Willkommen beim Schwesternschnack!"

Christina RN LMT said...

Vielen Dank, Miz Minka! Don't hang your head in shame! Being forgotten is MUCH better than being shunned, which is what I was worried about! :D

I have found that I have more problems understanding Germans (or Austrians, or Swiss) who speak with strong regional dialects. I know that other Germans have that problem, too, but I used to be very good at understanding/translating them. (I'm from Berlin, we don't have a dialect, we just speak bad German!)