Cold weather speak
Hi,
I happened to watch a Scandinavian movie with subtitles and had to remark to an Alaskan friend that it was not a particularly nice language to listen to compared to the Romance languages. He mentioned that when he was out in far northern Alaska for several days without benefit of a cabin to warm up in, he noticed that English speakers began to speak a lot farther back in their throats, becoming similar to Inuit-type voicing. Makes sense in a way that one's mouth doesn't open as far (thus letting cold air in), and the mouth doesn't have to contort as much to speak. Just curious if you have any thoughts.
Thank you!
Karen Davis
(Transferred from old LINGUIST List Ask-a-Linguist site)