Phonation type as a stylistic variable: The use of falsetto in constructing a persona¹

Abstract

Although the field of sociolinguistics has witnessed a growing interest in the sociophonetic aspects of segmental and intonational variation, few studies have examined variation in voice quality. This paper addresses the gap by investigating the stylistic use of falsetto phonation. Focusing on the speech of Heath, a speaker exhibiting considerable cross-situational variation, I show that when attending a barbecue with friends, Heath's falsetto is more frequent, longer, and characterized by higher fundamental frequency (f0) levels and wider f0 ranges. Advancing recent approaches to variation which treat linguistic features as stylistic resources for constructing social meaning, I draw on an analysis of the discourse contexts in which falsetto appears to illustrate that the feature carries expressive connotations. This meaning is employed to construct a 'diva' persona and may also participate in building a gay identity.

Como in Commute: The Travels of a Discourse Marker across Languages

“…Johnstone and Kiesling (2008) argue that /aw/ monophthongization indexes the English variety of Pittsburghese, even though Pittsburgh speakers do not realize that the form is local to Pittsburgh. Podesva (2007Podesva ( , 2011 argues that the use of the falsetto and vowel shifts by gay men index a "diva" or "partier" persona. Mendoza-Denton (2006) proposes that the Th-Pro represents an ethnic marker of latina gang members and in 2011, she chronicles how creaky voice spread through Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas videogames to become associated with a "hardcore Chicano gangster" persona.…”

“…Closely related to the concept of stance, Kiesling (2009: 191) Although Spanish-English bilinguals are not consciously aware that they are using the discursive "como," studies with phonological variables including /aw/ monophthongization (Johnstone & Kiesling, 2008), falsetto (Podesva, 2007), vowel shifts (Podesva, 2011), Th-Pro (Mendoza-Denton, 2006 and creaky voice (Mendoza-Denton, 2011) demonstrate how linguistic forms can index a group of people or a persona even if speakers are not aware that they are using a form innovatively. Johnstone and Kiesling (2008) argue that /aw/ monophthongization indexes the English variety of Pittsburghese, even though Pittsburgh speakers do not realize that the form is local to Pittsburgh.…”

Categories, stereotypes, and the linguistic perception of sexuality

“…Instead, scholars have argued that variants are ideologically linked to a range of related potential social meanings, any one of which could be made relevant in the context of interaction (e.g. Podesva 2007). Which of these potential meanings ultimately becomes activated is a product of both a speaker's stylistic practice (the use, for example, of coordinated indexical cues) and a listener's interpretation of the speaker's behaviour.…”

“…gay). My goal in doing so is to examine the linguistic perception of sexuality in its wider social context, and, as a result, to contribute to the development of a better understanding of the process through which variants come to evoke social meaning in the course of everyday interaction (Podesva 2007;Campbell-Kibler 2009;Foulkes 2010).…”

Levels of Phonological Abstraction and Knowledge of Socially Motivated Speech-Sound Variation: A Review, a Proposal, and a Commentary on the Papers by Clopper, Pierrehumbert, and Tamati, Drager, Foulkes, Mack, and Smith, Hall, and Munson

“…The phonetic parameteriz ation of different speech styles has shown that almost every parameter that is involved in a regular lexical contrast can be used to convey a speaker attribute. Consider Podesva's studies of gay male speech styles (Podesva 2004(Podesva , 2006(Podesva , 2007. Podesva shows that these speech styles are instantiated phonetically through the release of fi nal stop consonants, falsetto voice quality, and high-rising glissandi at the end of utterances.…”