Why do gay men have a lisp

What is sometimes colloquially described as a gay "lisp" [7] is one manner of speech associated with some homosexual males who speak English, and perhaps other languages too. [8] It involves a marked pronunciation of sibilant consonants (particularly / s / and / z /).

[9][10] Speech scientist Benjamin Munson and his colleagues have argued that this is not a mis-articulated /s/ (and therefore. Male and female judges associated lisping with gayness to a similar degree. American Speech, 6930— JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA— The notion of a "gay lisp"—an offensive stereotype to many people—has been a confusing phenomenon for linguists.

Furthermore, there was no significant gender difference with respect to associating lisping with gayness.

Two clinicians who were unaware of the specific purpose of the study and the populations involved judged randomized audio-recordings of gay males, heterosexual males and heterosexual females for the presence of lisping during reading of a standardized text.

This study evaluated the stereotype that gay men lisp.

t understand why male : Fifteen heterosexual males and 15 heterosexual females listened to samples of read speech and judged the sexual orientation o

Gilbert, S. Lindzey Eds. Gaudio, R. Sounding gay: Pitch properties in the speech of gay and straight men. University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics, 453— Fiske, S. Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Additional analysis showed that overall The reason for this association remains to be clarified.

Now, however, preliminary data from a. Crist, S. Duration of onset consonants in gay male stereotyped speech. In the gay males a significantly higher prevalence of lisping was found. This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Fifteen heterosexual males and 15 heterosexual females listened to samples of read speech and judged the sexual orientation of the speakers. This was true for the group as a whole as well as for the subgroup of homosexual and heterosexual men separately.

Institutional subscriptions. Bleile, K. Manual of articulation and phonological disorders: Infancy through adulthood 2nd ed. For decades, popular depictions of gay men have sometimes portrayed them pronouncing the letter "s" as more of a "th" sound—even though studies have failed to find "lispier" speech in gay men than in straight men.

Bowen, C. Beyond lisping: Code switching and gay speech styles. A total of of the samples were of homosexual men, 74 Based on the ratings of the listeners of the present study, lisping speakers were significantly more often judged to be homosexual.

Google Scholar.