Overview

• Published Sept. 23 in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, the University of Minnesota study analyzed over 100 minutes of Swift’s interviews from 2008 to 2019.
• Authors Miski Mohamed and Matthew Winn found Southern-accent features during Swift’s Nashville period that diminished after her return to Pennsylvania and relocation to New York City.
• Concrete markers included /aɪ/ monophthongization (making “ride” sound closer to “rod”) and /u/ fronting (shifting “two” toward “tee-you”), which faded after she left Nashville.
• Swift’s speaking pitch was significantly lower in the New York era, a change the authors propose could project authority during increased public advocacy, while also noting aging as a possible explanation.
• The researchers caution that conclusions are limited by reliance on casual public interviews without direct access to Swift, though independent linguists report similar patterns in her speech and singing.