English-speaking members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, especially in Utah, are often accused of possessing a “Utah Accent”. However, women in the Church have an even more distinctive subset of the Utah Accent, known as the “Relief Society Voice”. While many members of the Church can attest to having heard the Relief Society Voice, no research has been done to study the effects of its use.
Kimberlea, a graduate student in the BYU Linguistics department, wants to change that.
“There may be some unknown effects and causes of the Relief Society Voice. Currently, we’re hypothesizing that the Relief Society Voice really originated in the General Authority Voice, and has a hypnotic effect on Church members.” She was quick to remind The Alternate Universe that this is all speculation so far.
In the process of getting the grant for this study approved, Kimberlea interviewed many members of the Church in the Northern Utah region. Weslee, a member of the Priests quorum in the Saratoga Springs 876th ward, explained, “Last week, the Relief Society President came up to talk to me after church. I was happy to talk to her, but the way she was speaking was really condescending. I was also filled with an urge to bake bread.”
Annette, a Weber State attendee currently living at home in Ogden, provided a similar sentiment.
“Sister Cord gave a really great talk in sacrament meeting the other day, and I really felt the Spirit, but I also felt like a two-year-old.”
Many hypotheses and thoughts regarding the Relief Society Voice were offered during the early stages of the study. Some theorize that the Church-wide hatred of the Relief Society Voice is rooted in misogyny, as the cadence and accent often highly resemble that of male Church leaders. Conversely, others think that the Voice has some kind of effect on male Church leaders, encouraging apostles to call Voice-carrying individuals to high positions in the Church.
Overall, the causes and effects of the Relief Society Voice are underresearched and this is a niche that needs to be filled in linguistics. Harnessed effectively, the Voice could lead to a global rise in Church activity. Conversely, if the Voice is eradicated, the same could happen. Many look forward to the results of this study.