'Taylor lowered the pitch of her voice when she moved to New York City. This was the time in her career when she became more well-known for speaking up on issues of social change and feminism, as well as musician's rights,' said Matthew Winn, co-author of the study. 'Sometimes people with a lower pitch are perceived as a voice of authority, and it is possible that she was making use of that tendency to ensure her message was received.'
No one expects a teenager and a senior citizen to sound the same, but the question of exactly how age influences our language use is more complex than it might at first seem. A fascinating new study probes how specific life events and experiences might have more of an impact on your linguistic choices than your chronological age per se.