How TikTok created a new accent – and why it might be the future of English

BY SOPHIA SMITH GALER

People on TikTok have developed a specific accent – would you recognise it if you heard it?

Before I switch on the ringlight, even before I’ve loaded my battery into my camera, I already know what I’m going to say. I press record, look at the lens, and deliver my script. In about seven minutes it’s all done – a new video for TikTok. Afterwards, I think no more about the words that I’ve said, and certainly not the way I delivered them. At least, until now.

It turns out there may be a “TikTok voice”. It apparently includes “uptalk” – a rising intonation on declarative sentences – and “vocal fry”: a soft creak as you speak.

If you want to know what that sounds like, I explained in this video for TikTok:

@sophiasmithgaler

Is there a TikTok accent? 👀 i want to know if this is true for other languages too! What do you think? #languages #linguistics

♬ original sound – Sophia Smith Galer

(Source: BBC)

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