Upspeak: ‘Declarative statement made with rising into-nation?
L.A. valley-speak is its exaggerated form and possible
source, but upspeak (a.k.a. uptalk) emerged as a
widespread teen practice in the mid ’80s. In recent
years, its distinctive “intonation contour” has threatened to
become a genuine dialect shift. Although the questioning
tone can connote indecision, deference, or apathy, a 1992
linguistic study of a Texas sorority found that upspeak was
used most commonly by group leaders, suggesting that the
tentative sound can serve as a way of getting attention,
involving listeners, and enforcing con-sensus?’