Phonetic reversal is the process of reversing the
phonemes
A phoneme () is any set of similar speech sounds that are perceptually regarded by the speakers of a language as a single basic sound—a smallest possible phonetic unit—that helps distinguish one word from another. All languages con ...
or
phones
A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...
of a
word
A word is a basic element of language that carries semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consensus among linguist ...
or
phrase
In grammar, a phrasecalled expression in some contextsis a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English language, English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adject ...
. When the reversal is identical to the original, the word or phrase is called a
phonetic palindrome. Phonetic reversal is not entirely identical to
backmasking
Backmasking is a recording technique in which a message is recorded backward onto a track that is meant to be played forward. It is a deliberate process, whereas a message found through phonetic reversal may be unintentional.
Artists have used ...
, which is specifically the reversal of
recorded sound
Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording te ...
. This is because
pronunciation
Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. To
This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or all language in a specific dialect—"correct" or "standard" pronunciation—or si ...
in
speech
Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, suc ...
causes a reversed
diphthong
A diphthong ( ), also known as a gliding vowel or a vowel glide, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of ...
to sound different in either direction (e.g. ''eye'' becoming ''yah'' ), or differently articulate a
consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract, except for the h sound, which is pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Examples are and pronou ...
depending on where it lies in a word, hence creating an imperfect reversal.
Backmasking involves not only the reversal of the sounds and order of phonemes or phones, but the reversal of the
allophonic
In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is one of multiple possible spoken soundsor '' phones''used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, the voiceless plosi ...
realizations of those phonemes. Strictly speaking, a reversal of phonemes will still result in allophones appropriate for the new position; for example, if a word with a final /t/ is reversed so that the /t/ is initial, the initial /t/ will be aspirated in line with the conventional allophonic patterns of
English phonology
English phonology is the system of speech sounds used in spoken English. Like many other languages, English has wide variation in pronunciation, both historically and from dialect to dialect. In general, however, the regional dialects of Eng ...
.
According to proponents of
reverse speech, phonetic reversal occurs unknowingly during normal speech.
Examples
*In the 1974 album ''
Rock Bottom'', the track ''Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road'' presented the chord progression along with
Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is an English retired musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...
's singing being both phonetically reversed at one middle point of the song, which turned the track's harmonics to be reversed from the beginning although Robert Wyatt restarted to sing normally, causing an original and disturbing effect.
*In 1982, John Wright of
NoMeansNo
Nomeansno (sometimes stylized as NoMeansNo or spelled No Means No) was a Canadian punk rock band formed in Victoria, British Columbia, and later relocated to Vancouver. They released 11 albums, including a The Sky Is Falling and I Want My Mommy, ...
sang phonetically reversed lyrics on the backing vocal to the "Rich Guns" track on the band's first album, ''Mama''.
*In the
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
American film
The cinema of the United States, primarily associated with major film studios collectively referred to as Hollywood, has significantly influenced the global film industry since the early 20th century.
Classical Hollywood cinema, a filmmakin ...
''
Amadeus
Amadeus may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Amadeus (name)
Amadeus is a theophoric name, theophoric given name derived from the Latin words ' – the Imperative mood, imperative of the word ' ("to love") – and ' ("god"). As a Compou ...
'', lead character
Wolfgang Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
claims to
Constanze Weber
Maria Constanze Cäcilia Josepha Johanna Aloysia Mozart (née Weber; 5 January 1762 – 6 March 1842) was a German soprano, later a businesswoman. She is best remembered as the spouse of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who from the eviden ...
that "
n Salzburg">Salzburg.html" ;"title="n Salzburg">n Salzburgeverything goes backwards". He then proceeds to deliver a series of phonetically reversed phrases, many of them vulgar, which she must guess by reversing them out loud.
Script for ''Amadeus''
/ref>
*In the television drama ''Twin Peaks'', the Man from Another Place's character's speech was phonetically reversed.
*''The Simpsons'' used the technique to parody ''Twin Peaks'' in the episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)".
*Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Jim Ure is better known by his phonetically reversed (first) name Midge Ure
James "Midge" Ure (; born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, ...
.
*Kate Bush
Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...
used phonetic reversal in her songs "Watching You Without Me" (1985) and "Leave it Open" (1982).
*The English rock band Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...
used the effect on the song "Like Spinning Plates", released on their 2001 album ''Amnesiac''. Singer Thom Yorke
Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician who is the vocalist and main songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. He plays guitar, bass, keyboards and other instruments, and is noted for his falsetto. ''Rolling Stone'' desc ...
sang the lyrics backwards; this recording was in turn reversed to create "backwards-sounding" vocals.Turntablist
Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into a PA syste ...
DJs for this reason.
*In the 2008 monster film ''Cloverfield
''Cloverfield'' is a 2008 American Found footage (film technique), found footage monster movie, monster horror film directed by Matt Reeves and written by Drew Goddard. It stars Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller (in his film debut), Mic ...
'', after the credits, a broken sound recording can be heard of Rob saying "...help us...", as at the end, he and his girlfriend were trapped under a bridge. If reversed, it sounds like Rob saying "...it’s still alive..."
*In 2007, backwards speaking radio sensation "Backwards Dave" (David Klempfner) beat the Guinness World Record Holder, David Fuhrer aka "Mr Backwards" in a backwards-speaking competition live on Triple J.Gravity Falls
''Gravity Falls'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery television comedy, comedy animated television series created by Alex Hirsch for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series follows the adventures of Dipper Pines (Jason Ritter) and his twi ...
'', a whisper is heard saying, "I'm still here." However, if one reverses it, it says, "Three Letters Back", which is a clue to the ending credits code. The whisper is changed to "Switch the A with Z" in Double Dipper, "26 Letters" in Bottomless Pit, "Key Vigenere" in Scary-Oke, and "Not What He Seems" in the episode with this title (while still using the Vigenere cipher).
References
{{reflist
External links
EV: Audio reversal in popular cultureBoy can talk fluently backward - Yahoo!7
(November 13, 2013)
Phonetics
Sound