Phonetics & Sneezing

[Ali Marie]

So, I am taking a phonetics class at Uni right now as a requirement for my new degree & it's got me thinking about the processes that most of us here tend to use to spell out sneezes for stories, observations, etc. Sneezes are absolutely choked full of all sorts of vowel sounds from the IPA. When my professor was giving examples of each specific vowel sound my stupid little brain immediately went to sneezes.  

It really got me thinking about how the more syllables & vowel sounds a sneeze tends to have...The louder & more intense the sneeze seems to be. Bigger sneezes tend to have: 

oʊ

• u:, 
• ʊ
• ɒ
• ʌ
• ɑ:

 

Whereas smaller, dainty, sneezes tend to have:

• aɪ
• ɪəʳ

It also made me wonder if people are really imagining the sneeze that I transcribed in the same way I heard it in person while reading it in their head. 

For example: is it pretty much a consensus that "Ah-Choo" sounds louder, deeper & more intense than a sneeze that is spelled "Ha-Chiew" (?)

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It also got me thinking about how my sneeze has changed as I have aged & am now able to both intentionally & unintentionally change the way that I sneeze. Years ago, my sneeze had one constant sound & now I can only duplicate that exact sound if I really force myself.

I'm sure a lot of us here have one point added more vowels to a sneeze on purpose for a recording or whatever. Maybe even just played around with tongue placement & lip shapes & various vowel sounds for fun when sneezing and/or inducing.

Anyway...Just something fun to think about. Now I have to get back to my real phonetics homework. 

Edited 12 hours ago by Ali Marie

[Lavender]

English major here! I love linguistics, and this is a great discussion topic! I have such a difficult time trying to spell my sneezes or a character's sneezes, I really do think about how it sounds and what letters would best convey what I'm hearing. Some are just ... Unspellable! 😅 I'll hear a sneeze that has a sort of thickness of deepness to it, and have absolutely no idea how I'd try to spell it!  

Thinking about changing the sounds of your own sneezes is super interesting! I can definitely make them higher pitched or more "girly" by adding an emphasis on a sort of "iew" or "ioo" sound, rather than my usual "tchoo" or "tchew". Add stifles or muffling into it and it gets even more complicated. 😂 

Maybe someone will bring it up in class! I know I wouldn't be brave enough to participate in the discussion, but I'd be interested to hear what a non-fetishist would think. 

[Sitruuna]

Oh I love phonetics. I've actually used IPA to spell sneezes in my initial versions of some stories and then edited them to "normal" spellings when I edit the stories before posting them anywhere because it takes less brain power to slap together a sneeze spelling using IPA than it does to figure out an actual "normal" spelling 😂

but I also I second this:

18 minutes ago, Lavender said:

I have such a difficult time trying to spell my sneezes or a character's sneezes, I really do think about how it sounds and what letters would best convey what I'm hearing. Some are just ... Unspellable! 😅 I'll hear a sneeze that has a sort of thickness of deepness to it, and have absolutely no idea how I'd try to spell it!  

I'm not used to people vocalising their sneezes all that much, so a typical sneeze in my head is basically just a loud rush of air. If I spell sneezes using IPA, I tend to favour uvular trills (and affricates and... I guess uvular consonants in general) even though those don't really capture the sound either.