Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: Karen W. on 10/11/2008 23:48:28
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Say I know that certain speech patterns are learned etc.. but what about the basic sound of your voice.. My voice for instance sounds just like my moms voice.. and My sons voice sounds almost identical to his Dads voice... I cannot tell them apart except upon really really concentrating and waiting to hear certain pattern or inflection that is a tiny bit off, but not always.. sometimes I cannot tell!
So are the voice box or vocal chords giving way to the tones they produce that sound the same....?
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I think that there are two convergent issues: Firstly, I would think that because much of the way our children grow is due to inherited traits, things like the larynx (voice box) will be similar. Therefore, a son will have a larynx that is similar in shape and size to his father's. Therefore, the air-flow through this area will be similar, creating a similarly pitched tone.
The second issue would be that of conformity. It is likely that children will have a similar diction to their parents - the way that they pronounce letters and words will be learned through copying their parents. The combination of these two principles will produce voices that may appear very similar.