How do valley girls talk

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How viruses shape our world. The era of greyhound racing in the U. The people were from different socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds and across many parts of Southern California. Afterward, the team analyzed their voices. The rise in pitch at the end of sentences was found in everyone, across all demographic groups. Despite the stereotype, Valley Girl speak wasn't confined to women: Men tended to use it too, although it was less pronounced than it was in women.

Men often had a pitch plateau at the end of a sentence, rather than a rise, Ritchart said. The results suggest that the uptalk accent is very common in Southern California, and totally isn't a sign of being timid, ditzy or confused, as some outsiders might believe, Ritchart said. Another myth busted: its use is not exclusive to young women. Now researchers at the University of California, San Diego, who wanted to learn more about when and how local speakers use uptalk, have done a close acoustical analysis of 23 Southern Californians from diverse backgrounds, ages 18 to 22, including 11 men.

The researchers gave the speakers two tasks: using a map to give directions to a listener, and describing a sitcom clip they had just watched. Generally, the women did use uptalk almost twice as often as men, with their rises beginning later in a sentence and hitting higher pitches.

When giving directions, a non-uptalker would use a declarative sentence, without a rising inflection.