Credits: Social Media
Women are to blame for ‘that TikTok accent’ which�makes everyone sound the same
While scrolling through TikTok, you’ve probably noticed that everyone sounds the same. No matter their age, gender or background, influencers are all using the same high-pitched voice in their videos.
People are calling this the ‘TikTok accent’, although a language expert has explained that the Chinese app isn’t actually the cause. It’s women who are to blame, and this voice is the “future of the English language”, apparently.
‘TikTok accent’ takes over
The new phenomenon involves changing your voice when you speak on TikTok so that it’s higher pitched and every line sounds like a question. This is known as ‘uptalk’, which is “a way of speaking in which your voice rises at the end of a phrase,” Cambridge Dictionary explains.
It’s also characterized by ‘vocal fry’, a deep, creaky, breathy sound that’s often used in voice-overs to resonate with the audience.
This ‘TikTalk’ as it has been dubbed is seen all over social media and has been around for years, although people don’t do it on purpose. It’s something that’s subconsciously done by everyone without realising, making internet users all sound like robots.
TikTok viewers are noticing this change, with one person writing on Twitter/X: “Anyone else notice that everyone on TikTok uses the same accent and speech patterns? Are regional accents disappearing with young people?”
“I find it really interesting that TikTok/YouTube have created their own version of a transatlantic accent almost unintentionally,” said another.
Women are to blame according to professor
Christopher Strelluf, a linguistics professor at Warwick University in England, said that women are the cause of this new voice that’s taking over social media – and the world.
“TikTok is the evidence of the change thats happening, because that’s where we’re seeing it, but the platform is not the cause,” he told National World. “The women are the cause.”
He said that our language is “always a product of innovations introduced by young women” and girls on TikTok are making this more prominent.
“In general, the way young women use language is the future of the way language evolves. So any changes we hear by young women are probably the future of English.”
This isn’t a new theory either. William Labov, the founder of modern sociolinguistics, said that women lead 90% of linguistic change almost 25 years ago.
He first noted this gender paradox, claiming that “women conform more closely than men to sociolinguistic norms,” which means they’re exposes to a “greater diversity of language innovations”.
‘Making the language better’
While everyone sounding the same might seem pretty boring, the expert revealed it shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing.
It’s “giving us new ways to use language to manage conversations and negotiate information sharing,” he said – so it’s actually “making the language better”.
He added that in the future, this uptalk will “probably be the norm” and become the “future of the English language” as more people adopt this way of speaking.
One TikTok user says she uses this ‘influencer speak’ to avoid hesitating or pausing with the words “like,” “so” or “um”.
Others say it keeps the user engaged by sounding happy and upbeat. Whatever the reason, it’s a new part of our world that’s here to stay.
