French -speaking fans of Taylor Swift are perhaps less sensitive than Americans, but the singer’s accent has evolved since the beginning of his career, twenty years ago. The scientists specialized in the word sciences, looked at their accent but also in the tone of their voice, which came down.
If many studies have already analyzed the influence of the star and the scope of their songs, this is one of the first times that his way of speaking was analyzed. Another study, presented in 2024, the Swift accent change (quick accent change), analyzed its performances on stage.
Popstar, born in Pennsylvania in the northeast of the country, Veu Philadelphia, then moved with her parents in Nashville in Tennesse, the homeland of country music, which was at that time her business. Therefore, she is equipped with a southern accent, and all the paraphernalia of the country singer, including the boots, which the girl responded to her first interviews.
Later, when he lived in New York and made his pop turn with 1989She changed her accent again, adopting a more neutral way of speaking.
Miski Mohamed and Matthew Winn scientists, who publish the result of their research in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of AmericaTherefore, he dissected his way of pronouncing the vowels when he was in Nashville, New York and Philadelphia.
“Integrate into the community”
The researchers see it as a way for Taylor Swift to “integrate into the community.” For them, the singer took the southern accent “not only for the simple exposure to the accent by those around it, but also because of the characteristic role that the southern accent plays in country music in the United States.” They emphasize that the adoption of an accent corresponds to more factors, such as the desire to integrate into a community or ambition.
Therefore, not only, by imitation effect, the young singer adopted the accent of Tennessee, even outside the scene, but also to “strengthen his link with his musical community and his fans,” observes scientists, who see him “a strong symbolic gesture.” Especially because in the United States, the southern accent is often criticized and stigmatized
Miski Mohamed and Matthew Winn also studied the modulations of Popstar’s voice, even when he speaks, and also observed a surprising evolution. Taylor Swift has significantly lowered his voice when he moved to New York. A “well documented technique that speakers use to inform the trust, credibility and authority on important issues,” notice scientists.
They also emphasize that “this era coincided with its greatest visibility, where it was expressed in issues of social change, sexism, double standard, rights of musicians and their own autonomy in their musical career.”
Source: BFM TV
