An interdisciplinary group of researchers investigated recurring patterns in vocal expressions of emotions by comparing expressive interjections like “wow” with nonlinguistic sounds such as screams and cries from various cultures. They examined vowels from interjections in 131 languages alongside nearly 500 vowels from vocalizations related to feelings of joy, pain, or disgust. The study revealed that each of these three emotions produced consistent and unique vowel patterns across different cultures.
With around 7,000 languages spoken globally, each affords distinctive methods for conveying human emotions. However, do specific emotions exhibit regular patterns in their vocal representation across different languages?
In a study published in JASA by AIP Publishing on behalf of the Acoustical Society of America, an interdisciplinary team including linguists and bioacousticians, led by Maïa Ponsonnet, Katarzyna Pisanski, and Christophe Coupé, investigated this question by contrasting expressive interjections (like “wow!”) with nonverbal vocalizations (such as screams and cries) worldwide.
Pisanski highlighted that examining sounds such as cries, screams, and laughter can provide insights into the origins of human speech.
“What led humans to develop spoken language when other primates did not? While all of us can laugh, and many species make playful vocal sounds, we stand out as the only species that has developed complex spoken language,” Ponsonnet remarked. “Exploring these similarities across species can reveal how humans evolved differently.”
“By comparing interjections with vocal sounds that convey the same emotions, we can investigate whether the acoustic characteristics we identify in interjections are rooted in such vocalizations,” she added.
The researchers scrutinized the vowels in interjections from 131 languages, juxtaposing them with almost 500 vowels from sounds made in contexts of joy, pain, or disgust.
They theorized that the acoustic qualities of these vocalizations reflect their adaptive or social purposes. “Many vocal expressions serve a purpose. For instance, infants’ cries are often loud and harsh to compel parents to address their distress,” Pisanski noted. “We also believe that expressions of pain, disgust, and joy function similarly.”
The results supported this theory regarding vocalizations: Each of the three emotions revealed distinct and consistent vowel patterns across cultures. Pain-related interjections featured similar open vowels like “a” and broad falling diphthongs such as “ai” in “Ayyy!” and “aw” in “Ouch!” Conversely, emotions of disgust and joy did not show the same consistent patterns across cultures as observed in vocalizations, which surprised the research team.
The group plans to extend this research to include a broader range of cultures and emotions to deepen their understanding of the origins and development of vocal expressions.
