When you read something, do you hear the writer’s voice in your head?

That is, when you actually know what the writer’s voice sounds like.

I remember an assignment in a college writing theory class in which I had to discuss whether I have an inner voice when I read. I asserted that I do, one of my supporting points being that when I’m reading silently and come across a word I don’t know how to pronounce, I recognize that I don’t know how to pronounce it. If I were reading with no voice speaking in my head, I wouldn’t care about pronunciation.

I just wondered a few days ago whether I hear a coworker’s voice when reading her email or his IM. I think my inner reading voice isn’t even my own voice; it’s pretty neutral, while my speaking voice is in the bass range. It’s a similar voice, I think, when I’m reading coworkers’ messages. But still, I think there’s a hint of the person’s voice there.

Come to think of it, I don’t even think my thoughts are in my own voice, but rather in that same neutral voice. It calls into question the show and movie where someone’s thoughts are broadcast audibly, and people can recognize the voice. I wonder if that would really be the case. Since an unspoken thought doesn’t go through your vocal cords, how can it have your physical voice?

Okay, I’m done. Just one of those writing-related things that I started thinking about.