Phonetic reversal
Phonetic reversal is the process of reversing the phonemes of a word or phrase. When the reversal is identical to the original, the word or phrase is called a phonetic palindrome. Phonetic reversal is not entirely identical to backmasking, which is specifically the reversal of recorded sound. This is because pronunciation in speech causes a reversed diphthong to sound different in either direction (e.g. eye [aɪ] becoming yah [jɑː]), or differently emphasize a consonant depending on where it lies in a word, hence creating an imperfect reversal. Backmasking involves not only the reversal of the order of phonemes, but the reversal of the phonemes themselves, which means that the reversed sound of a phrase may be hard to predict.
According to proponents of reverse speech, phonetic reversal occurs unknowingly during normal speech.
Examples
- In the 1984 American film Amadeus, lead character Wolfgang Mozart claims to Constanze Weber that "[in Salzburg] everything goes backwards." He then proceeds to deliver a series of phonetically reversed phrases, many of them vulgar, which she must guess by reversing them out loud.
- In the television drama Twin Peaks, the Man from Another Place's character's speech was phonetically reversed. The Simpsons then used the technique to parody that Twin Peaks episode in "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)".
- Singer-Songwriter-Multi-instrumentalist Jim Ure is better known by his phonetically reversed name Midge Ure.
- Kate Bush used phonetic reversal in her songs Watching You Without Me (1985) and Leave it Open (1982).
- In 1982, John Wright of NoMeansNo sang phonetically reversed lyrics on the backing vocal to the "Rich Guns" track on the band's first album, Mama.
- A specific recording of the phrase "In the mix" exists that is a phonetic palindrome, and is often used by Turntablist DJs for this reason.
- In the 2008 monster film Cloverfield, after the credits, a broken sound recording can be heard of Rob saying "...help us...", as at the end, him and his girlfriend were trapped under a bridge. If reversed, it sounds like Rob saying ...its still alive..."
- On the song by Radiohead "Like spinning Plates", Thom Yorke actually sings the first verse voiced and sounded out backwards, and then the final cut of the album studio version has that superimposed back-masked as the first verse of the song so it would be cognizant as being sung forward to the listener, albeit with unnatural intonation and inflection apparent in his voice.