Adults make their voice sound more childlike by shortening the vocal tract.
A graph showing vowel differences in aegyo speech on top of two photos of members of the K-pop band Tomorrow X Together performing aegyo on stage during a concert. Credit: Ji-eun Kim and Volker Dellwo (graph), Jade Burr (photographs)
WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2026 — In Korean, the term “aegyo” denotes a playful cuteness put on by adults to win someone’s affection, typically in romantic contexts. This is usually accomplished with bashful expressions or a childlike speech that is sometimes known as “baby talk” in Western cultures.
Aegyo is often associated with K-pop idols, who will sometimes be asked to “perform” aegyo by their fans, even competing to see who can be the cutest. In Korean dramas, romantic scenes between young adults sometimes feature aegyo speech, as one character tries to woo another by appearing more endearing to their love interest.
In JASA Express Letters, published on behalf of the Acoustical Society of America by AIP Publishing, researchers from….click to read more
Among loud noise, a brassy and bright voice can help speakers be understood.
A study by Tsai et al. showed that twangy, female voices are best understood amongst plane and train sounds. Credit: AIP
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2025 — Twangy voices are a hallmark of country music and many regional accents. However, this speech type, often described as “brassy” and “bright,” can also be used to get a message across in a noisy environment.
In JASA Express Letters, published on behalf of the Acoustical Society of America by AIP Publishing, researchers from Indiana University found that it was easier to understand twangy female voices compared to neutral voices when…click to read more
Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center
6001 Euclid Avenue Suite 100
Cleveland, OH, 44103
United States
Popular version of 2aSC4 – From intention to understanding and back again: How a simple message of ‘Catch and Pass’ can build language in children
Presented at the 187th ASA Meeting
Read the abstract at https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0035171
–The research described in this Acoustics Lay Language Paper may not have yet been peer reviewed–
Project ELLA (Early Language and Literacy for All) is an exciting new program designed to boost early language and literacy skills in young children. The program uses a simple yet powerful message, “Catch and Pass,” to teach parents, grandparents, daycare teachers and other caregivers the importance of having back-and-forth conversations with children from birth. These interactions help build and strengthen the brain’s language pathways, setting the foundation for lifelong learning.
Developed by the Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center, Project ELLA focuses on helping children in the greater Cleveland area, especially those in under-resourced communities. Community health workers visit neighborhoods to build trust with neighbors, raise awareness about the importance of responsive interactions for language development, and help empower families to put their children on-track for later literacy (See Video1). They also identify children who may need more help through speech and language screenings. For children identified as needing more help, Project ELLA offers free speech-language therapy and support for caregivers at Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center.
The success of the project is measured by tracking the number of children and families served, the progress of children in therapy, the knowledge and skills of caregivers and teachers, and the partnerships established in the community (See Fig. 1). Project ELLA is a groundbreaking model that has the potential to transform language and literacy development in Cleveland and beyond.
M. Fernanda Alonso Arteche – maria.alonsoarteche@mail.mcgill.ca
Instagram: @laneurotransmisora
School of Communication Science and Disorders, McGill University, Center for Research on Brain, Language, and Music (CRBLM), Montreal, QC, H3A 0G4, Canada
Instagram: @babylabmcgill
Popular version of 2pSCa – Implicit and explicit responses to infant sounds: a cross-sectional study among parents and non-parents
Presented at the 186th ASA Meeting
Read the abstract at https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0027179
–The research described in this Acoustics Lay Language Paper may not have yet been peer reviewed–
Imagine hearing a baby coo and instantly feeling a surge of positivity. Surprisingly, how we react to the simple sounds of a baby speaking might depend on whether we are women or men, and whether we are parents. Our lab’s research delves into this phenomenon, revealing intriguing differences in how adults perceive baby vocalizations, with a particular focus on mothers, fathers, and non-parents.
Using a method that measures reaction time to sounds, we compared adults’ responses to vowel sounds produced by a baby and by an adult, as well as meows produced by a cat and by a kitten. We found that women, including mothers, tend to respond positively only to baby speech sounds. On the other hand, men, especially fathers, showed a more neutral reaction to all sounds. This suggests that the way we process human speech sounds, particularly those of infants, may vary significantly between genders. While previous studies report that both men and women generally show a positive response to baby faces, our findings indicate that their speech sounds might affect us differently.
Moreover, mothers rated babies and their sounds highly, expressing a strong liking for babies, their cuteness, and the cuteness of their sounds. Fathers, although less responsive in the reaction task, still rated highly their liking for babies, the cuteness of them, and the appeal of their sounds. This contrast between implicit (subconscious) reactions and explicit (conscious) opinions highlights an interesting complexity in parental instincts and perceptions. Implicit measures, such as those used in our study, tap into automatic and unconscious responses that individuals might not be fully aware of or may not express when asked directly. These methods offer a more direct window into the underlying feelings that might be obscured by social expectations or personal biases.
This research builds on earlier studies conducted in our lab, where we found that infants prefer to listen to the vocalizations of other infants, a factor that might be important for their development. We wanted to see if adults, especially parents, show similar patterns because their reactions may also play a role in how they interact with and nurture children. Since adults are the primary caregivers, understanding these natural inclinations could be key to supporting children’s development more effectively.
The implications of this study are not just academic; they touch on everyday experiences of families and can influence how we think about communication within families. Understanding these differences is a step towards appreciating the diverse ways people connect with and respond to the youngest members of our society.
Emma Holmes – emma.holmes@ucl.ac.uk
X (Twitter): @Emma_Holmes_90
University College London (UCL), Department of Speech Hearing and Phonetic Sciences, London, Greater London, WC1N 1PF, United Kingdom
Popular version of 4aPP4 – How does voice familiarity affect speech intelligibility?
Presented at the 186th ASA Meeting
Read the abstract at https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0027437
–The research described in this Acoustics Lay Language Paper may not have yet been peer reviewed–
It’s much easier to understand what others are saying if you’re listening to a close friend or family member, compared to a stranger. If you practice listening to the voices of people you’ve never met before, you might also become better at understanding them too.
Many people struggle to understand what others are saying in noisy restaurants or cafés. This can become much more challenging as people get older. It’s often one of the first changes that people notice in their hearing. Yet, research shows that these situations are much easier if people are listening to someone they know very well.
In our research, we ask people to visit the lab with a friend or partner. We record their voices while they read sentences aloud. We then invite the volunteers back for a listening test. During the test, they hear sentences and click words on a screen to show what they heard. This is made more difficult by playing a second sentence at the same time, which the volunteers are told to ignore. This is like having a conversation when there are other people talking around you. Our volunteers listen to many sentences over the course of the experiment. Sometimes, the sentence is one recorded from their friend or partner. Other times, it’s one recorded from someone they’ve never met. Our studies have shown that people are best at understanding the sentences spoken by their friend or partner.
In one study, we manipulated the sentence recordings, to change the sound of the voices. The voices still sounded natural. Yet, volunteers could no longer recognize them as their friend or partner. We found that participants were still better at understanding the sentences, even though they didn’t recognize the voice.
In other studies, we’ve investigated how people learn to become familiar with new voices. Each volunteer learns the names of three new people. They’ve never met these people, but we play them lots of recordings of their voices. This is like when you listen to a new podcast or radio show. We’ve found that people become very good at understanding these people. In other words, we can train people to become familiar with new voices.
In new work that hasn’t yet been published, we found that voice familiarization training benefits both older and younger people. So, it may help older people who find it very difficult to listen in noisy places. Many environments contain background noise—from office parties to hospitals and train stations. Ultimately, we hope that we can familiarize people with voices they hear in their daily lives, to make it easier to listen in noisy places.
It’s much easier to understand what others are saying if you’re listening to a close friend or family member, compared to a stranger. If you practice listening to the voices of people you’ve never met before, you might also become better at understanding them too.