The Book of Tells (Peter Collett)[unlocked]

THE BOOK OF TELLS
attempting to be dominant usually lower the pitch of their
voice - that's why John Wayne advised men to 'talk low,
talk slow, and don't say too much'. On the other hand,
people who are trying to appear submissive usually raise
their pitch. When mothers are talking to their babies they
instinctively adopt a higher pitch than normal. 25 This has
the effect of calming the baby. Of course mothers may not
know it, but the reason why they raise their pitch is that
babies are most sensitive to higher vocal frequencies.
The vocal pitch that individuals adopt often reflects their
social standing. Members of subordinate groups often
speak with a higher pitch than those who belong to more
powerful groups in that society. We can see this very
clearly in the USA during the heyday of Motown, when
African-American singers like The Stylistics sang in a highpitched,
falsetto register that is normally reserved for
women. The same kind of self-emasculation could be seen
at work among the so-called 'Coloureds' of South Africa
during the apartheid era. The Coloureds are people of
mixed race. Some are the descendants of Malay slaves,
others the progeny of relationships between Blacks and
Whites. Under apartheid they lived in a political no man's
land between the Blacks and the Whites, and of all the
racial groups in South Africa they were the most insecure.
Their marginal position was very evident in the highpitched
speech style they used. It became their badge of
oppression, a way of showing that they didn't represent a
threat to the White establishment.
Rising and falling intonation also carry important
messages. Falling pitch is associated with statements,
certainty and dominance, whereas rising pitch is a
characteristic of questions, uncertainty and submissiveness.
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