Seriously thoughtful When reading, do you subvocalize?

[Cyberman tM]

There is no further point to to this poll than satisfy my curiosity - I always assumed that almost everyone would subvocalize during reading, as it's so natural to me that I would have to concentrate on not doing it.

Perhaps I should attempt to add an explanation for those who never heard that word before.
It seems there is no clear definition, at least what I consider subvocalization isn't explicitely mentioned on the wikipedia page - unless I actually move throat muscles without realizing it?

Anyway, subvocalizing means that you create a "voice" inside your head which speaks the words you read - changing pitch and inflection and such.
Which, to me, makes text infinitely more enjoyable, especially stories of course.
(And also means I'm very vulnerable to typos that change the sound of a word.)

The opposite is to just "know" the meaning. Perhaps a good reference can be the study of a foreign language - at first you likely had to translate each word and sentence before you understood it - after a while you merely hear the word and instantly know the meaning even though if asked you might not be able to translate it.

Personally, I am able to read without subvocalizing - I often do when I skim a page - but I think it helps remembering what I read.

[edit]Just to clarify - the last poll option, while certainly an attempt at humor, is actually meant to be a serious option.
To someone who NEVER even heard of this and is used to just "know" the words, this certainly must seem very weird.
When I asked a colleague about it, he certainly thought it was weird.

[Mortis]

You mean some people don't have a narrator in their head reading for them? Seems kind of a pain to actually have to read everything myself.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Mortis

You mean some people don't have a narrator in their head reading for them? Seems kind of a pain to actually have to read everything myself.

And boring! How will you know inflections then? And hear the question marks? Or even exclamation marks!

[DixieGal]

Good poll, lots to discuss. My inner reader has accents also.

[Mortis]

I have more than one, the old British butler for those stodgy old books. The fast happy girl for those quick reads and of course the Xavier Hollinder voice for, well umm you know

[DixieGal]

I wish whoever voted "never heard of it" would describe what reading is like for him or her.

[Cyberman tM]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

And boring! How will you know inflections then? And hear the question marks? Or even exclamation marks!

Indeed. High priority requests (at work) are so much more entertain... I mean important when you properly (sub)vocalize the dozen exclamation marks.
(I.e. hysterical voice on the fringe of collapsing. Usually these request are as important as they are well-written. Usually it's the equivalent of a stubbed toe...)

[poohbear_nc]

When I read a novel after seeing a film made from it, I usually "hear" the dialogue spoken in the actors' voices, or "hear" the descriptive/narrative text spoken as a voice-over. But only if I liked the film version (considered it true to the text).

[TGS]

It may be possible that we form some kind of schematic auditory representation of the narrative voice - and sometimes the voices of characters depending on the representational techniques of the author - without sub-vocalizing. I wrote my master's thesis in part on this - what's really interesting is the step from representing the narrative to representing what the narrative narrates. If a narrative says, for example, when the main character in a novel narrates, "I had a cardboard suitcase that was falling apart.", do we represent the sounds of the words or do we represent the state of affairs represented by the words. If auditory representation is essential what does that imply about people who are deaf reading?

[RainingLemur]

Almost all of the books I read have some sort of special (helmet and short-bus special) narrator. Sometimes, it'll be me in my big-boy-reader voice. Other times it's Morgan Freeman. When reading some kind of science-y stuff, I usually get Hubert Farnsworth's voice thrown in somehow.

It makes reading more enjoyable for me, being able to differentiate between the characters and paint a vivid picture in my head of the events in the book.

[The Terminator]

I would say not really a narrator because the different characters have different voices, also what Poohbear_nc says. I really don't get the speed reading thing that your supposed to just know the words, I tried it and yes you get through the book faster but it's not as enjoyable. I would say not really a narration but a full crew, I usually go into "book land" and see like a movie not the pages of the book

[pdurrant]

My internal voice is pretty much the same all the time when reading, and isn't very voice-like. Words, yes, but without a great deal of vocal character.

Occasionally, if it's a book I associate with a particular performance, I might hear that actor's voice when reading, but not always even then.

One thing I think is fascinating is that not reading aloud was once quite unusual. The classic text that shows that silent reading used to be unusual is in Book 6, Chapter 3 of the Confessions of St Augustine, where he talks about St Ambrose:

"Now, as he read, his eyes glanced over the pages and his heart searched out the sense, but his voice and tongue were silent."

There can be no reason for St Augustine to include this sentence unless silent reading was unusual.

[desertblues]

I always have a female voice in my head when I read or write. I think it's my own, but I am not sure as my brain distorts it.
I read English, German, French, Spanish, Dutch and a little Italian, but I have never--ever an accent in my head.
So actually I could learn from my own ' innervoice'?

[TGS]

Originally Posted by THE TERMINATOR

I would say not really a narrator because the different characters have different voices, also what Poohbear_nc says. I really don't get the speed reading thing that your supposed to just know the words, I tried it and yes you get through the book faster but it's not as enjoyable. I would say not really a narration but a full crew, I usually go into "book land" and see like a movie not the pages of the book

Another interesting question is whether you "hear" direct quotes in the narrator's voice or the character's voice. When you encounter a sentence like,
As they were leaving Emily said "Have you fed the cat?" ,
formally the narrator is telling you what Emily said and so, although the words are Emiliy's the voice is the narrator's.

[astra]

Maybe because English is my second language, I always subvocalise words.

Originally Posted by THE TERMINATOR

I usually go into "book land" and see like a movie not the pages of the book