Genetics and our vocal tone: Amazing correlation!

Yes, me, my mom, and my sisters all sound alike. When I lived with my mom and people whould call the house and I would answer the call, people weren't sure who was on the phone. It was kind of funny. I wonder if my daughter will sound like me too. It is strange.

Hello Mim. This is common, yes? I often mistake my grandchildren's voices on the phone, for instance, and I've noticed that as they get older, my brothers sound much as my father did. Genetic characteristics and family similarities are interesting! Karen

it is true that genetics is ingrained in each one of us. and it is also true that it is amazingly that much present in each one of us. i do not want to admit this at all but, it is a fact that all siblings in our family have similar ways of even opening our mouths whenever we talk. then also, the way we play with words has an intricacy which is a mark for us. even the way each one will let a laugh out. at times, it would be similar to that of our father's and, at times it will be kind of the way our mother does it. as for that talent of yours and your moms, that is a great way to identify members of the family. i have never been as good as any of you so far.

Yes, it is scary. Sometimes close blood relatives do not even like each other and one might change appearance to try to look different from the other, but then they hear that other person in their own voice. It is also the case as I have noticed with some of my cousins who were quite different when we were young together and then we moved apart and did not see each other for many years but as we got older we got more like each other. With one cousin who never would have been mistaken for me in youth it is now like looking in a mirror.

Our voice and in the manner that we speak as well. I think that during childhood or in growing up, we hear different kinds of tones from our parents and that goes with different moods as well. So as children we mimic the tones as well as the sounds from our parents to convey what we are feeling at that time. Like, when we are happy, we might add an octave with the pitch of our voices because that might have been how our mothers sound like when she is excited about something. When we're agitated or upset about something, we might lower our voices an octave because that might have been how our fathers sound like when they are reprimanding us about something.^_^

I have been often told that my eldest daughter's voice sounded like mine. Our friends always mistook her for me and vice versa whenever they call on the phone and one of us answers their call. It amazes at first then got used to it because i have been told many times and taking notice of it, i agree that we really sound a lot like each other.

All the members in our family have quite distinct voice and speech patterns, but at the same time I have on a number of occassions got mislead on the phone and have noticed a very similar pattern amongst parents and children and even grand parents amongst some people i know. There is the inheritance factor most in the speech mannerisms and voice , thanks to the genes and there is more than just the vocal tone from the throat as you have put it extending into our teeth, tongue.....What does play an important role subsequently is also the environment around and the exposure and it has it's role both ways increasing and diminishing the inherited influence. The thing here is, that the science has been investigating more the inheritance of abnormalities, stuttering, stammeriing....which are voice related.So there is definitely the genetic factor involved. Fascnitaing subject it is- Genetics, even trying to comprehend the little bit we know.

Hi dear! You have observed a very interesting point. Sometimes our voices sound similar and our mannerism too. My and my real brother's voice are almost similar and if we speak on telephone to our mother, many a times, she just cannot distinguish whether it is Deepak or the Sanjiv (my younger brother). Interestingly, one day my brother called up my wife and said 'Hello' to her on phone, the way I say, she just got confused, she thought that it was I who was calling her and she started giving directions and commands to my brother, as she gives to me without blinking her eye..........LOL! She kept giving commands, till my brother disclosed that 'Dear Bhabhiji, it is me ...........not him...........LOL!). Then her face turned red, when she came to know about the reality ..........LOL!

Oh yes, I know exactly what you mean there. I happened to listen to myself speaking on a home movie and became aware of listing to my own voice that sounded exactly like my father's. I had never realized this until I heard it on the movie. We hear our own voices so differently.. - Derek

That is an interesting thought to say the least, and highly probable as a persons voice is determined by genetics, like everything else. I see one little problem though. I'm adopted and sound nothing like my birth parents or anyone in their family. In fact, while I look like them, I am very different from them in all other aspects. My voice is very much like my adoptive mothers in tone, pitch etc. I also have the same mannerisms as she does (which is probably to be expected seeing as she raised me). Does that then mean that genetics aren't the only factor in determining a persons voice?

hello mimpi, I never thought about it. But considering there are a lot of parents - children who have same beautiful voice. Who can sing together. Sometimes, when calling through phone people would also have a mistake between the mother and daughter or father and son. Yeah, we can inherit the vocal tones of our parents. Nice thought. have fun!

I have noticed that siblings and parents can sound very much alike. I don’t particularly sound like my mother but my sister and I sound very similar. I love looking around at my daughter’s school and noticing the similarities between the children and the parent. There is one little girl who is an almost identical but smaller version of her mother and is beginning to sound like her too; the other day the grandmother came to pick her up and lo and behold, same voice, same face yet again, it’s quite amazing!

I have thought about it alot. Me and my mother spent hardly anytime together and my mannerisms and the way I talk are just like her. I was raised by my grandparents but even though, almost everything about me screams my mother. Strange but leave it to genetics right?..lol

i have seen some some people who look same ..but it is not completely..most similarities but i also have seen similar voices but with no similarities in the look .....but in my small age i have two of my class mates similar in all ways find to identify each ..they are twins and with same dressing....and once i went to a party i found again twins who look similar..not all twins look similar...

Hello mimpi. I agree with you that it is amazing correlation that even the sound from parents to their kids sound alike, which can be found quite similar on the phone. There are a few times when I called my brother-in-law, it so happened that my nephew answered the phone and I made a mistake that he was the father, but proved to be wrong. hehehe. Isn't it interesting!

Genetics are crazy. Eye colors. All my family on my mother and father side have blue eyes. Except my mothers father (grandpa) and me. Grandpa had a dark chocolate eyes and i have green. My son, 1 daughter, 2 grandaughters and 1 grandson all have my grandpas eye color. Im the only green eyed person in my family.

Hey mimpi! That is so true! People used to mistake me and my mother when I would answer her phone when I was staying at her house when I was on vacation! I didn't think that we sounded alike, but apparently her friends did! They would automatically think that I was my mother and start talking to me! I know that obviously they didn't expect me to be answering her phone, but it wasn't just that! It was that they would tell me that we sounded so much alike! Still doesn't sound that way to me, but then again now my voice is alot deeper because I am a smoker and my mother isn't!