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

How TikTok created a new accent – and why it might be the future of English Getty Images Do you have TikTok voice? It apparently includes "uptalk" – a rising intonation on declarative sentences – and "vocal fry": a soft creak as you speak. "In the case of vocal fry, teenage girls in English-language speech communities might use vocal fry more than other groups of people," says Strelluf, but "findings in academic research are mixed". There is the catch: women may be pioneering in a linguist's eyes, but research suggests they are more likely to be perceived negatively when using linguistic patterns like vocal fry or uptalk compared with men. Cameron ends her analysis of criticisms of uptalk and vocal fry by saying: "This is the paradox at the heart of advice telling women to speak with confidence: the more women are told that the way they speak is holding them back, the less confident they will feel."