Hmmm… my inner monologue does not tend to speak in the voice of someone whose voice I know. I can get it to speak in other peoples’ voices, or in what I imagine other people’s voices to sound like, if I try to, but it defaults to a sort of neutral gear which, now that I think about it, sounds like a voice but not quite like my (external) voice. Similar, but not the same. (And, of course, the way that I hear my voice when I speak differs from how I hear it when recorded on tape—my inner monologue sounds more like the way I hear my voice, but still somewhat different)
Mine usually sounds more or less like I’m whispering.
My inner monologue definitely doesn’t sound like whispering; it’s a voice, speaking normally.
I think I can best describe it by saying that it sounds more like I imagine myself sounding than like I actually sound to myself; but I suspect that’s recursive, i.e. I imagine myself sounding like that because that’s what my inner monologue sounds like.
Yes. If my mood or emotional state is sufficiently severe, then my inner voice will sound different; both in choice of phrasing and in tone of voice.
It’s not an audible voice, as such; I think the best way that I can describe it is to say that it’s very much like a memory of a voice, except that it’s generated on-the-fly instead of being, well, remembered. As such, it has most of the properties of an audible voice (except actual audibility) - including such markers as ‘tone of voice’. This tone changes with my emotional state in reasonable ways; that is, if I am sufficiently angry, then my inner voice may take on an angry, menacing tone.
If my emotional state is not sufficiently severe, then I am unable to notice any change in my inner-voice tone. I also note that my spoken voice shows a noticeable change of tone at significantly lower emotional severity than my inner voice does.
It’s not an audible voice, as such; I think the best way that I can describe it is to say that it’s very much like a memory of a voice, except that it’s generated on-the-fly instead of being, well, remembered.
I was about to say that it’s the same for me, but then I remember that at least for me actual memories of voices can be very vivid (especially in hypnagogic state or when I’m reading stuff written by that person), whereas my inner voice seldom is. (And memories of voices can also be generated on-the-fly—I can pick a sentence and imagine a bunch of people I know each saying it, even if I can’t remember hearing any of them actually ever saying that sentence.)
Huh. Either my memories of voices are less vivid than yours, or my inner monologue is more vivid. Quite possibly both.
Of course, when I remember someone saying something, it can include information aside from the voice (e.g. where it happened, the surroundings at the time) which is never included in my inner monologue. I consider these details to be seperate from the voice-memory; the voice-memory is merely a part of the whole “what-he-said” memory.
BTW, I think I have one kind of memory for people’s timbre, rate of speech, volume, accent, etc., and one for sequences of phonemes, and when recalling what a person sounded like when saying a given sentence I combine the two on the flight.
Mine usually sounds more or less like I’m whispering.
My inner monologue definitely doesn’t sound like whispering; it’s a voice, speaking normally.
I think I can best describe it by saying that it sounds more like I imagine myself sounding than like I actually sound to myself; but I suspect that’s recursive, i.e. I imagine myself sounding like that because that’s what my inner monologue sounds like.
Does your inner voice sound different depending on your mood or emotional state?
Yes. If my mood or emotional state is sufficiently severe, then my inner voice will sound different; both in choice of phrasing and in tone of voice.
It’s not an audible voice, as such; I think the best way that I can describe it is to say that it’s very much like a memory of a voice, except that it’s generated on-the-fly instead of being, well, remembered. As such, it has most of the properties of an audible voice (except actual audibility) - including such markers as ‘tone of voice’. This tone changes with my emotional state in reasonable ways; that is, if I am sufficiently angry, then my inner voice may take on an angry, menacing tone.
If my emotional state is not sufficiently severe, then I am unable to notice any change in my inner-voice tone. I also note that my spoken voice shows a noticeable change of tone at significantly lower emotional severity than my inner voice does.
I was about to say that it’s the same for me, but then I remember that at least for me actual memories of voices can be very vivid (especially in hypnagogic state or when I’m reading stuff written by that person), whereas my inner voice seldom is. (And memories of voices can also be generated on-the-fly—I can pick a sentence and imagine a bunch of people I know each saying it, even if I can’t remember hearing any of them actually ever saying that sentence.)
Huh. Either my memories of voices are less vivid than yours, or my inner monologue is more vivid. Quite possibly both.
Of course, when I remember someone saying something, it can include information aside from the voice (e.g. where it happened, the surroundings at the time) which is never included in my inner monologue. I consider these details to be seperate from the voice-memory; the voice-memory is merely a part of the whole “what-he-said” memory.
BTW, I think I have one kind of memory for people’s timbre, rate of speech, volume, accent, etc., and one for sequences of phonemes, and when recalling what a person sounded like when saying a given sentence I combine the two on the flight.