Nielsen, R. (2010). “I ain’t never been charged with nothing!”: The use of falsetto speech as
a linguistic strategy of indignation. University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in
Linguistics: 15(2), 111-121. https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol15/iss2/13
This study examined the speech of a fourteen-year-old DC native named Michael with regards to his use of falsetto during the sociolinguistic interview. Nielsen aimed to address the contexts in which Michael used falsetto, as well as the social meanings behind this use. When acknowledging prior research on the salience of falsetto in AAE intonation (Wolfram & Shilling—Estes 2006, Thomas & Reaser 2004, Wolfram & Thomas 2002, Tarone 1973, Loman 1967, 1975, Alim 2004), Nielsen writes that there are several gaps in what it means to use falsetto in specific conversational settings, such as an interview.
Through an analysis of Michael’s speech during the sociolinguistic interview, Nielsen posits that Michael uses falsetto as a means of expressing his frustrations “toward how he is being questioned and positioned in the interview” (pg. 114). The interview was divided in terms of intonational phrases, or a phrase that included a syllable that demonstrated an increase in pitch or stress (pg. 114). This was done in order to provide a more consistent analysis of the frequency and distribution of Michael’s use of falsetto (pg. 114). In addition, the interview was divided into different topics of conversation in order to determine whether the topic itself motivated Michael to use falsetto more frequently.
The quantitative findings of this study reveal that Michael used falsetto in 45 of the 1680 intonational phrases featured in the interview. In terms of the qualitative findings, Michael’s use of falsetto was analyzed in accordance to positioning theory, where one of the main components is identifying “who has the initiative in a conversation” (pg. 115). Of the four subdivisions of positioning theory, deliberate self-positioning was the most consistent with Michael’s use of falsetto. Deliberate self-positioning was described by Nielsen as “responding to a positioning of the self carried out by another person” (pg. 115).
The more extreme cases “in terms of max F0, F0 range, and duration” (pg. 118) show how Michael was more inclined to use falsetto when he felt like the interviewer’s questions were an attempt to position him as something that he was not. For example, as a way of opposing the interviewer’s question regarding being charged with a crime, Michael repositions himself with falsetto paired with the double-negative phrase “I ain’t never been charged with nothing” (pg. 117).