'TikTok accent' called 'the future of the English language' by vocal expert

Social media has now doubt changed how we operate in our day-to-day lives, and it's even crept into how we speak, and a language expert believes this is "the future of the English language.".

It's all to do with the rise of "influencer talk" otherwise known as "'TikTok accent," "TikTalk," or "Internet voice" where everyone online speaks similarly.

Characteristics of this include 'uptalk' where you inflect (change the pitch of your voice) a sentence to sound like a question and 'vocal fry,' which is when a voice is low-pitched and has a rough or creaking sound on vowels.

Although 'uptalk' is often associated with a lack of confidence, compared with finishing a sentence flatly, but speaking in a monotone voice doesn't excite or engage listeners online.

Hence why you'll be able to notice a lot of creators raising their pitch at the end of a sentence in videos.

Young women more commonly adopt these vocal factors with influencers and celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry and Ariana Grande who have demonstrated this.

One recent example includes when Julia Fox went viral on TikTok for her "Uncut Gems" vocal fry moment, while another example is when Britney Spears lowly sings "'Oh baby, baby," in hit song 'Baby One More Time".

According to Christopher Strelluf, an associate professor of linguistics at the University of Warwick, this demographic are using these language features in an "innovative way".

"In almost all studies of language change, the innovators of language seem to be young women - spread through use by young women," he told National World.

"In general, the way young women use language is the future of the way language evolves. So any changes we hear by young women are probably the future of English."

However, these characteristics tend to have a negative stigma attached to them since a study published by Journal of Voice found women with vocal fry were perceived as less attractive and intelligent than male speakers with vocal fry, along with those who had no vocal fry at all.

Though, it's been nearly three decades since social media was created and its impact on society has had even less time so it will be interesting to see how influencers will influence language in the decades to come.

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