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SystemDown
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26 May 2009, 11:48 am

What makes their voices sound different? Usually you can tell if a person is white or black by their voice, though there are exceptions. White people typically have high voices and black people typically have deep voices.



JohnnyCarcinogen
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26 May 2009, 12:43 pm

Actually, you can't.

You may be implying voice pitch and tone difference based upon gender (white male vs. black male, etc.).

You can tell more about a person's geography & socioeconomic status based on their voice rather than their skin color.

Maybe what is deluding you is the fact that the majority of the impoverished happen to be minorities, which puts their geographic location & socioeconomic status in the same place across the board, regardless of skin color or gender.

The majority race (whites), however, are generally found in nearly every socioeconomic class, and are found spread out among multiple geographic areas in multiple countries, making their dialects & accents change and adapt from one area to another.

Just a theory.


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SystemDown
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26 May 2009, 12:59 pm

[quote="JohnnyCarcinogen"]Actually you can't[\quote]

Yes, you can. I've been exposed to several white and black people throughout my life and I can tell you I typically heard them speak with distinct white and black voices. I could tell from an early age that they used different voices. There are also a few white people that sound black and vice versa. It seems to me that one would have to have very little to no exposure to one of the races to not believe that their voices sound different.



CloudWalker
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26 May 2009, 1:49 pm

You mean like different accent? I think it has more to do with the people they grow up with than race.



WurdBendur
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26 May 2009, 1:50 pm

If you hear black people speaking other dialects or languages, you may notice that they often no longer sound as distinct. There may be some biological basis for the difference (slightly different proportions of the vocal organs, or something), but culture seems to play a much greater part.


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SystemDown
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26 May 2009, 1:54 pm

WurdBendur wrote:
If you hear black people speaking other dialects or languages, you may notice that they often no longer sound as distinct. There may be some biological basis for the difference (slightly different proportions of the vocal organs, or something), but culture seems to play a much greater part.


Even if a black person is speaking professionally I can still hear the black voice. Likewise I can tell that white rappers are white even when they're using ebonics in the songs, they still sound white.



ladyinred
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26 May 2009, 1:54 pm

SystemDown wrote:
What makes their voices sound different? Usually you can tell if a person is white or black by their voice, though there are exceptions. White people typically have high voices and black people typically have deep voices.


Like Chris Rock and Johnny Cash?



SystemDown
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26 May 2009, 2:04 pm

JohnnyCarcinogen wrote:
Maybe what is deluding you.


I'm not deluded. Only a deaf person or one that's had very little to no exposure to one of the races can't tell that white and black people have distinct voices. Unless you're deaf or have had very little to no exposure to one of the races, I don't see how you could think they don't have distinct voices. There are, of course, also some white people that sound like a typical black person and vice versa.



ladyinred
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26 May 2009, 2:08 pm

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxlut3dlXro[/youtube]



Vanilla_Slice
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26 May 2009, 4:41 pm

Lady In Red, you're a very bad person :D Thanks for the clip.

Now, let's try and make a scientific reply....................

Yes, the voices of people with an Afro-Caribbean background are different but there are a number of reasons:

1) Their facial structure is different, in particular the structure of the lips.

2) Their voices are deeper, this could be due to longer vocal cords or a larger chest size.

3) Due to cultural differences their accents are distinct and much stronger than others

PLEASE NOTE

This does not make people with an Afro- Caribbean background inferior or superior to others, just different. We live on a very small planet and it would be nice if people could get along with each other once in a while.

Vanilla Slice



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26 May 2009, 5:02 pm

I agree with the OP. I am around people of different races and there is something beyond accent, "AAVE vs. Standard English," dialect, whatever. There is a different resonance to the voice itself. Warmer somehow? More rounded in tone? I can't describe it. A black (African-American) person speaking standard English, or whatever, simply has a different vocal quality than a white (caucasian) person; likewise, a white person who grew up with and speaks- as his or her primary dialect- AAVE, has a different vocal quality from a black person that is otherwise identical socio-economically.
Not racist at all- it's a simple observation.



NEWanderer
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26 May 2009, 10:48 pm

SystemDown wrote:
What makes their voices sound different? Usually you can tell if a person is white or black by their voice, though there are exceptions. White people typically have high voices and black people typically have deep voices.


Polymorphisms in the androgen receptors follow patterns in ethnic groups and subgroups and so does the corresponding 2D:4D finger ratio, if that has anything to do with it.



DNForrest
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27 May 2009, 12:35 am

I have to agree that it may be the facial structure (lips, nose, and whatever else), because I can usually tell the difference between a black male and a white male (the only time I can't tell the difference is generally when they have similar facial structures). However, I can't often tell the difference between a black female and white female.



JohnnyCarcinogen
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27 May 2009, 9:23 am

SystemDown wrote:
JohnnyCarcinogen wrote:
Maybe what is deluding you.


I'm not deluded. Only a deaf person or one that's had very little to no exposure to one of the races can't tell that white and black people have distinct voices. Unless you're deaf or have had very little to no exposure to one of the races, I don't see how you could think they don't have distinct voices. There are, of course, also some white people that sound like a typical black person and vice versa.


Now you're taking part of a sentence out of context.

What I said was, "Maybe what is deluding you is the fact that the majority of the impoverished happen to be minorities, which puts their geographic location & socioeconomic status in the same place across the board, regardless of skin color or gender."

As WurdBendur and CloudWalker said, dialect plays a bigger role than biological difference, as well as culture.

For example, if you were to visit Great Britain, you would notice the accents of many minorities are much different than those in the U.S. You may not be able to tell the minorities from the majority race.


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riverotter
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27 May 2009, 9:31 am

I don't think that's what the OP had in mind.

Does every topic have to derail?



JohnnyCarcinogen
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27 May 2009, 11:16 am

Um, I have to be honest, riverotter, you've lost me. Please explain. I may have not provided enough detail to my argument.


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