M2 Internship – What Do Nonverbal Vocalizations Reveal in Sports?

While human non-verbal vocalizations like laughter and infant cries have been studied, other vocalizations such as sighs, roars, and grunts remain relatively unexplored, especially from a functional and evolutionary standpoint. These vocalizations are common across all cultures and are likely evolutionarily ancient, pre-dating speech and language. They show clear parallels with the affective vocalizations of other mammals,
including primates (Bryant & Aktipis, 2014). Unlike other species, humans possess remarkable control over these vocalizations, modulating them independently of internal or external stimuli. This raises an intriguing question: How and why does controlling vocalizations provide an evolutionary advantage in humans?
To address this, we will examine human vocalizations in ecologically relevant competitive contexts, focusing on the potential benefits of vocal control. Competitive sports offer an ideal setting to study these phenomena, where non-verbal vocalizations like grunts and roars are frequently produced by players. Research suggests that such vocal signals may sometimes help regulate respiratory flow and enhance performance (Murakawa & Tokoro, 2007; O’Connell et al., 2014; Tammany et al., 2021). However, these vocalizations can also convey information about an athlete’s sex, physical engagement, and even the progression and outcome of a match as demonstrated with tennis grunts (Raine et al., 2017). Additionally, physical exertion affects key vocal features such as voice pitch (F0), loudness, and vocal tremor (Anikin, 2023).

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