I was talking
with a friend just now and I commented on how a vocal inflection such as mmm
can convey a lot of information irrespective of how limited the actual repeated
phoneme is and that of course got me thinking about it further.
The subtlety
associated with such vocal inflections is obviously person specific but it
seems that there are many things which are shared despite our
different sexes and cultures and of course there’s the breathiness that’s adds to the
overall sound but what really caught my attention was that mmm could be used in
many ways to convey a particular emotion or feeling.
There’s mmm with
an upward lift indicating a question or curiosity, mmm with a downward
inflection signifying displeasure or dislike, mmm with a hint of hhmm at the
beginning to signify doubt but what really attracted me was the throaty mmm
that comes with pleasure. The kind of sensual pleasure that makes ones toes
curl and hints at things unsaid, things that might more usually be communicated
with touch.
Then came the
question of how it would feel to have that throaty mmm vibrating against you.
How would that vocalisation affect your own responsiveness?
Would it feel differently in different places? How about against your neck?
Would the mmm of my lips vibrating against your skin carry the same message as
if it were against your wrist or against your lips? What about if that subtle, pleasurable
vibration was in contact with somewhere more intimate? What would that feel and
sound like? Would that be toe curling or repulsive? Would it make you want to
reciprocate or refuse my attentions?
So many questions and no way to test the theory beyond writing and talking and speculating…
