Power in Milliseconds: The Invisible Voice and Silence
Before words, and often more than words, human beings communicate through paralinguistic sounds: vocalizations such as “mmm,” “ah,” “eh,” “oh,” “uh-huh,” which do not fully belong to the lexical system of a language yet form its emotional and relational backbone. These sounds accompany verbal language, precede it, and at times replace it, conveying fundamental meanings such as agreement, attention, understanding, doubt, surprise, or empathy.
Featured image: Boy Bitten by a Lizard by Caravaggio (Florence), source
Paralinguistic sounds have a pre-linguistic and universal nature: they emerge from automatic bodily and emotional reactions processed by evolutionarily ancient brain structures, and they are recognizable across cultures and languages. An approving “mmm” or a questioning “eh?” is instinctively understood even between speakers who do not share the same language, as these sounds draw upon shared neurobiological mechanisms.
These micro-vocal expressions play a crucial role in human communication: they keep the relational channel open, regulate the rhythm of dialogue, and signal mental and emotional presence. Within a few milliseconds, the brain interprets their presence or absence as an indication of listening, agreement, or disconnection. For this reason, paralinguistic sounds are not mere “fillers,” but genuine social signals that shape mutual perception, trust, and relational balance. Understanding paralinguistic sounds therefore means exploring a border zone between biology, language, and culture: a space in which emotion is transformed into voice, and voice becomes a social bond.
Paralinguistic sounds represent a fundamental yet often invisible dimension of human communication. Born from primary emotional and bodily responses, they constitute an archaic and universal form of language through which the brain signals presence, understanding, agreement, or dissonance in extremely rapid timeframes. These “sonic grimaces” are not an accessory to verbal language; rather, they sustain its relational structure, making emotional synchrony between interlocutors possible.
However, the ways in which these sounds are received, interpreted, or silenced are not neutral. Social and cultural structures, particularly hierarchical ones such as patriarchy, machismo, and misogyny, have historically distorted the natural rhythms of communication by assigning unequal value to voices, response times, and emotional expressions. In this process, what is biologically oriented toward connection has often been transformed into a tool of control, generating empathic misalignments and communicative traumas that shape disposition, self-esteem, and relational dynamics.
Recognizing the importance of paralinguistic sounds therefore means not only deepening our understanding of an essential aspect of language, but also questioning the power structures that regulate who is allowed to speak, how, and when. Reclaiming attentiveness to these minimal signals, respecting their timing, acknowledging their function, and legitimizing their expression, amounts to restoring a more equitable, empathetic, and authentically human form of communication. In this sense, the reappropriation of paralinguistic sounds is not merely a linguistic act, but a gesture of care, awareness, and social transformation. The study of paralanguage is known as paralinguistics and was invented by George L. Trager in the 1950s, while he was working at the Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. Department of State.
Antiquity, Universality, and Primitive Communicative Function
The Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani defines paralanguage as the vocal component of language composed of elements that are independent of verbal content. It includes prosodic features (such as intonation, rhythm, duration, and stress) as well as more strictly paralinguistic traits, such as voice quality, timbre, and resonance. Paralanguage is said to be at work when variations in these parameters, relating to timing, pitch height, intensity, and duration, contribute to the construction of meaning (whether intentional or unintentional) in communication.
Paralinguistic phenomena are concomitant or simultaneous features of verbal communication that convey additional information, supporting, reinforcing, or even contradicting the information transmitted through words. In general, paralinguistic phenomena are considered “non-lexical” elements (for terminological clarifications see Siegman; Anderson), in which the verbal component of communication intertwines with non-verbal elements such as facial expressions, movements, body posture, and physical distance in relation to the environment.
The importance of paralinguistic phenomena, understood in this broader sense, is evidenced by the fact that some of them are universal in human communication, particularly in the expression of emotions such as joy, fear, anger, sadness, disgust, and surprise, an idea already theorized by Charles Darwin in The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872). This importance is further underscored by the discovery that elements of non-verbal communication developed before, approximately 100,000 years ago, the completion, within the evolution of physical morphology and skeletal structure (especially cranial), of the adaptations necessary for articulated vocal language among hominins (Telmon; Corballis).
Paralinguistic phenomena therefore play a crucial role in human communication. Paralinguistic sounds, in particular, constitute a universal phenomenon, as in a vast number of languages there exist vocalic or nasal sounds (such as mhm, uh-huh, hmm) that express yes, I am listening, I understand, or I agree.
For example:
- Italian: “mmm,” “eh già,” “uh-huh”
- English: “uh-huh,” “mm-hmm” to indicate yes or confirmation
- French: “hmm,” “mouais,” which can also convey a doubtful or hesitant response
- German: “hm,” “mhm”
- Spanish: “mmm,” “ajá”
- Japanese: “un” (うん), clearly meaning yes, often accompanied by a slight nod
- Chinese: “en” (嗯), meaning yes / I understand / I’m listening
These sounds serve to maintain communicative contact: they signal that the interlocutor is present, attentive, and following the conversation, even without interrupting the speaker or while continuing to perform other actions without necessarily maintaining eye contact. Many linguists and anthropologists regard these sounds as archaic and universal forms of human communication, true vocal archetypes.
Sounds such as “mm,” “uh,” “ah,” “hm,” “eh” appear in nearly all the world’s languages, even among populations that have had no contact with one another. This suggests that they do not derive from words, but from physiological reflexes of the human body: they arise from the way we breathe, vocalize, and react emotionally.
For example:
- “Mmh” or “mm-hmm” requires only the vibration of the lips and nasal cavity; it is one of the simplest sounds to produce without opening the mouth, useful while listening and even reproducible while eating.
- “Ah” is one of the most open and natural sounds, often associated with surprise or understanding.
Before articulated language, human beings likely used tones, sounds, and gestures to communicate mental states such as attention, agreement, fear, or curiosity. Thus, “mmm” or “uh-huh” can be seen as remnants of a pre-linguistic level of communication, a kind of “grammar of the body and the voice” that precedes words.
These sounds recur with similar meanings across very different cultures, constituting intercultural vocal archetypes. So-called “archetypal sounds” or “universal vocalizations” appear in all or nearly all languages and convey emotions, intentions, or mental states even in the absence of words. They are the subject of research at the intersection of disciplines such as linguistics, anthropology, evolutionary psychology, and phonetics.
Main Categories of Archetypal Human Sounds
- “Mm,” “Mmh mmh,” “Uh-huh,” “En,” “Un”: sounds of assent, yes, approval, and attention. These are universal ways of signaling yes, I’m listening, or I understand. They are produced through nasal vibration, easy to generate with the mouth closed, making them ideal for communicating without interrupting.
- “Oh!”, “Ah!”, “Eh!”: sounds of surprised understanding or discovery. They are instinctive reactions to unexpected stimuli or sudden comprehension.
- “Ah!” realization, understanding
- “Oh!” surprise, discovery, admiration, realization
- “Eh?” request for clarification, question, doubt, request for repetition
These are pure exclamatory sounds, closely linked to breathing and muscular tonicity.
- “Ah!” realization, understanding
- “Uh-uh,” “Mm-mm,” “Tsk,” “Nn,” “Eh-eh”: sounds of negation or disagreement, used to express no or I disagree. Interestingly, they are often accompanied by a side-to-side head movement, itself a near-universal gesture.
- “Aïe!”, “Ow!”, “Ah!”, “Ay!”, “Ouch!”: sounds of pain or discomfort. By emitting a sharp, open sound, the speaker immediately attracts the attention of others. Ethological studies show that these sounds also exist among primates, functioning as biological alarm signals.
- “Mmm,” “Ahh,” “Oooh”: sounds of pleasure or satisfaction, used to indicate sensory enjoyment (food, warmth, touch, music, etc.). They have a physiological origin: vibration and relaxation of the vocal tract leading to a sensation of relief or pleasure.
- “Uh,” “Huh”, “Um,” “Ehm,” “Hmm”: sounds of doubt or hesitation. They serve to hold the conversational turn while thinking or searching for the right word. These filled pauses are universal and are even used spontaneously by children. Huh is claimed to be a universal syllable. A 2013 study suggested that the word/syllable huh is perhaps the most recognized syllable throughout the world.
- “Hey!”, “Eh!”, “Oi!”, “Ho!”: sounds of calling or attention. These are very ancient variants used to attract attention. “Hey” and “Ho” have existed for millennia in many Indo-European and African languages, often serving the same function.
- “Ha ha,” “He he,” “Ho ho,” “Uuuh,” “Waaah”: sounds of laughter and crying. These are not words but respiratory and rhythmic patterns. Laughter and crying are pre-linguistic, present from infancy, and universally recognized as expressions of emotion.
- “Ew,” “Ick,” “Bah,” “Buh,” “Pfui”: sounds of disgust or rejection. They arise from the physiological reflex of disgust (rapid exhalation, closed lips) and are often accompanied by characteristic facial expressions, where gestures and sounds coincide.
- “Aww,” “Ohh,” “Mmh”: sounds of affective calling or empathy, communicating tenderness or compassion. The soft, prolonged tone is associated with care, empathy, and social bonding.
These sounds function as universal emotional units, which each language has subsequently “clothed” in its own words and grammatical structures. Even today, in modern conversations, these sounds remain present, sustaining the rhythm of dialogue, keeping an open communicative channel, expressing emotional or cognitive attitudes such as “I understand,” “go on,” “I’m not convinced,” and acting as a social glue between speakers.
Specific Forms of Paralinguistic Breathing
A voluntary yawn directed at someone can convey strong intentions and/or social messages, as the yawn aims to show disinterest and/or boredom in a conversation. A “playful” or simulated yawn, on the other hand, is used to draw attention or create a comedic pause. It is important to note that yawning produces a domino effect; as an empathetic signal, it can be contagious, since yawning is known for its social contagiousness.
A gasp is a type of paralinguistic breathing characterized by a sudden, sharp inhalation of air through the mouth. A gasp can indicate respiratory difficulty and a panicked effort to draw air into the lungs. Startles can also occur in response to surprise, shock, or disgust.
A sigh is a reflex governed by a few neurons and represents a type of paralinguistic breathing in the form of a deep, particularly audible exhalation through the mouth or nose, which humans use to communicate emotions. It is a voiced pharyngeal fricative, sometimes associated with a low‑voiced guttural glottal breath. Sighs often arise from negative emotions such as dismay, dissatisfaction, boredom, or futility. A sigh can also result from positive emotions, such as relief, particularly in response to the end or avoidance of a negative situation.
Clearing the throat is a form of nonverbal meta‑messaging used to announce one’s presence when entering a room or approaching a group. It is performed by individuals who perceive themselves as higher in rank. In the social hierarchy of chimpanzees, this expression is a sign of rank, directed by alpha males and higher‑ranked chimpanzees toward lower‑ranked ones, signaling a mild warning or slight annoyance. In humans, it can also convey unspoken disapproval or serve as a cue that someone is talking too much, inviting them to be quiet.
As a form of metacommunication, moans and groans can also be included when they are used to indicate pain and, sometimes, to express displeasure.
How Does It Work?
The origin lies in emotion. Everything starts from a primary emotional reaction: surprise, pain, pleasure, doubt, interest, discomfort… These emotions are processed in deep, evolutionarily ancient areas of the brain:
- Amygdala, hypothalamus: generate automatic emotional responses
- Limbic system: regulates affective tone (pleasure, fear, curiosity, etc.)
- Brainstem: coordinates breathing, voice, and facial musculature
Each emotion produces a physiological pattern and bodily response:
- breathing changes rhythm (halts, accelerates, or lengthens)
- vocal cords tense or relax
- mouth, tongue, and lips move involuntarily
These movements generate an instinctive sound, a “sonic grimace”: an “ah!”, “oh!”, “mmm”, “uh”, depending on the emotion and muscle tension.
Over time, evolution has “trained” the brain to reuse these sounds as social signals—not just reactions, but communications of mental state. In other words, the brain has recycled emotional reflexes into communicative tools.
When articulated language developed, it did not replace these sounds, but incorporated them. For this reason, even today, they represent a universally accepted extension of speech: they appear in spontaneous conversation (“mmm yes,” “ah ok,” “eh already”), feel “natural” even among speakers of different languages, and are recognized instinctively without the need for translation.
In a sense, these sounds are “acoustic mirrors of human emotion.” They are bridges between the inner world (emotion) and the outer world (voice, communication). They are pre-linguistic yet intelligible, biological yet cultural, animal yet human.
“Micro-Responses” Maintain Contact
In the interplay between biology, social perception, and cognitive timing, the brain is constantly in predictive mode during a conversation: it anticipates micro-signals of response, sounds, gestures, vocalizations, glances. When someone speaks, the brain unconsciously expects an immediate response or signal, such as a nod or even just a change in breathing, within roughly half a second. If this signal does not arrive, the brain interprets the absence as an inactive channel, meaning “not received,” “not understood,” or “not important.” This is not a rational, calculated judgment; it is an automatic reaction of the limbic system and the social areas of the cortex.
These sounds function as signs of presence. They are like the “beeps” of a radio signal or the ECG/heart monitor of a machine that tracks vital activity, communicating: I am present, online, listening. In complex verbal language, these micro-responses synchronize the timing of dialogue, build trust and a sense of understanding, and reduce uncertainty, which, for the brain, is stressful.
When silence is prolonged and a response is “delayed,” even by just 2–3 seconds, the brain tends to fill the gap with interpretations such as: “they didn’t understand,” “they are not interested,” “they are distracted,” “they are judging me.” In reality, the interlocutor may simply have prioritized something else or be processing more slowly, but the social perception remains that of a “cognitive or emotional absence.”
There is also a cultural component. In “fast-paced” communication societies, quick responses are seen as a sign of participation and social intelligence. In more “reflective” cultures, such as Japanese or Scandinavian, silence can instead signal respect or attentiveness. However, the brain still reacts with mild discomfort when feedback is missing, a biological legacy. In summary, the brain interprets the speed of feedback as a signal of mental presence and empathy, even though slowness may actually be due to cognitive, attentional, or contextual factors.
Before Words, Control: Where Silence Is Not Neutral – Held Voices, Stolen Time
The human brain “lives” on communicative synchrony, micro-signals of 200–500 milliseconds that maintain contact: glances, “mmm”, nods, calibrated pauses. These signals create immediate empathy and communicative parity. They form the basic emotional grammar of human interaction.
In the neurobiology of dialogue, within patriarchal or male-dominated contexts, this natural dynamic is altered by power structures. Those in positions of authority, often men, authorize themselves to interrupt, overshadow, or ignore the micro-emotional signals of others, often women or subordinated individuals. Those in positions of lesser power learn to modulate or restrain their responses, so as not to be perceived as “intrusive,” “emotional,” “hysterical,” or “too sensitive.” In practice, the natural rhythm of dialogue, which should be egalitarian, becomes a field of domination. Power distorts synchrony.
When a person is constantly interrupted or ignored, their brain registers: micro-synchrony disruptions (stress, hypervigilance), reduced dopamine (social reward), increased cortisol (frustration, exclusion). This is a neuropsychological effect.
Over time, this shapes disposition, producing expressive inhibition (“better not to speak too much”), or conversely, hyper-controlled communication (“I must say everything perfectly to be heard”), or reactive outbursts due to accumulated unacknowledged silences.
Patriarchy is also an imposed communicative model. It has taught, especially to women and minorities, that: speaking too much or too soon is “intrusive,” interrupting is “rude” (but tolerated for men), and openly expressing emotions is a sign of “weakness.” These artificially imposed rules have silenced the instinctive, empathetic, and collective aspects of human language. The brain, which naturally seeks reciprocity and rhythm, has had to adapt to a dys-synchronous, hierarchical, competitive model.
Patriarchy has transformed a natural system of connection into a tool of control. This conditioning produces generational and identity-level effects: communicative anxiety (fear of being misunderstood or of “speaking too much”), empathic disconnection (inability to pick up subtle cues from others), and affective hardening, where speed, decisiveness, or interruption become signs of strength.
Source
