By Dr Laila Abdel Aal Alghalban
How you style your speech or language is generally determined by context, our age group, gender, occupation, region, etc. It is also subject to our social aspirations and speech fashion. Yes! Language is like fashion; trends come and go. Language looks like a big wardrobe full of clothes of various coloures, designs and styles from which we pick to get the look you desire: trendy, classic, casual, formal, edgy, dreamy, etc. Our linguistic styling is part of our identity. Just as we choose the right outfit for the right occasion, we use the right words and utterances for the right situation. Not surprisingly, language changes from generation to generation. What rapidly changes the most is our speech. Why does our speech change individually and communally? What are the trendiest speaking styles you have ever heard lately, either in English or Egyptian Arabic? I guess numerous readers are smiling, others are making faces, while a third group’s blood is starting to boil in their veins!
Variation beyond boundaries
Generally speaking, language tries to fit into the changing world it represents. Change occurs in time and place. And it is so difficult to separate the two dimensions, because a change in time involves a change in space and vice versa. Change involves vocabulary, grammar, meaning and, above all, pronunciation. Variation takes diverse forms. One is dialectal variation; each region has its own distinctive dialect, a variety of a language with distinctive features shared by a group of people in a particular place. Accent is variation in pronunciation. Speech variation is also social, with each social class or age group carving their own way of speaking style; this is called ‘sociolect’ like the dialects of teenagers, millennials, old people, etc. Speech variation can also be related to occupation; it involves the technical terms that make a special code among people sharing a particular profession. It is called ‘jargon.’ Variation would go on to develop styles or register, according to the context and the social distance we maintain with others; we talk formally, informally, casually, intimately, impolitely, etc. This is not the end; speech variation could be at the individual level; each one of us speaks differently, this is called ‘idiolect.’
The epidemic called vocal fry
One pronunciation trend is called vocal fry, an epidemic that is taking English speaking world by storm. It definitely hits your ears in movies, songs, shows, performances as well as everyday conversations. Vocal fry is a sort of phonation or voice produced when there is no enough air or breath to sufficiently vibrate the vocal folds. The voice produced becomes creaky and the person doing that sounds lazy, drowsy or sleepy. Why is it called vocal fry? We don’t know, but some roughly say that the creaky voice sounds like chips or meat scorching in a frying pan! Vocal fry was first embraced by celebrities such as Britney Spears and Kim Kardashian. Soon after, the voice style gains more fame and acceptability, especially among female teenagers and millennials. The trend becomes a symbol of intelligence and cleverness. Vocal fry has recently gone viral, crossing the Atlantic bond to Europe and then to the world over. Young women find it sexy and feminine to speak like a frog or an old creaky door! Vocal fry speech still triggers a lot of debate, with a study reporting increasing negative attitudes towards women speaking vocal fry. Women are perceived as less competent, less professional, and less employable.
The valley girl speech: Up, up, up
In many areas in the English speaking world, rising intonation, which is ending the utterance in a high pitch, is commonly used to make a yes-no question, and to show more politeness and interest. There is a growing tendency to generalise it to all utterances. Voice goes up at the end of every utterance to sound like questions. This is another trendy speaking style called ‘the valley girl speech’,valspeak, valleyspeak, upspeak, uptalk, among other names. It originates in California in the 80s and has ever sincegone viral in many European and Asian countries. Although many people don’t like it, valley girl speech is associated with attractiveness, femininity, upper social class, etc.
Are there vocal fry or valley girl speech in Egypt?
Although we cannot say that there is vocal fry or valley girl speech in the strict sense of the word in Egypt, many affluent, well- heeled and upwardly mobile Egyptian girls and celebrities arebucking similar trends to fit in globally and to set themselves apart from mainstream speech patterns. You hear them and feel the difference, but no systemic studies, to the best of my knowledge, have tackled the issue of changing speech styles in Egyptian women’s language so far. Thus, there is little to be said here. However, some general features could be impressionistically put forward. One is fast speech rate; young Egyptians generally speak faster than previous generations; they also coin expressions, puns and, sometimes, satirical comments urging others to speak the same way. They share the common belief that the faster you speak, the more intelligent and competent you sound, and therefore the more appreciation you get. They also, especially girls, emphasise words; they put more energy while pronouncing most important words in their utterances. A third feature is code switching, upper class young Egyptians switch to English to drop some words and phrases every now and then. A fourth one is the labialisation and velarisation (pronouncing sounds with extra lip rounding and tongue retraction) of some consonants and vowel, which could spread to the whole words and utterances. This trend is gaining momentum, though it might not appeal to many people.
Some famous examples
It crosses my mind now Donia Samir Ghanim in some of the roles she played in many famous Egyptian movies and TV serials. Another example is Dina Elsherbiny, and other actresses in other famous TV shows and serials. A third example is the speech style of Sally Fouad, the renowned nutrition expert. She usually uses rising intonation in almost all her utterances. These are just few examples.
Finally, our speech is our primary mode to convey our thoughts and connect to others. It is also symbolic of much of who we are and what we aspire to be. It is no wonder, then, that speech is always subject to change and fashion trends.
By Dr Laila Abdel Aal Alghalban
Professor of Linguistics
Faculty of Arts
Kafr el-Sheikh University
Email: [email protected]
