Press release, 30 March 2026
Study in the journal Phonetica shows: Individual motivational calls follow consistent acoustic strategies and use extreme pitch to support athletes
How do we cheer athletes on effectively? A research study led by Dr. Marzena Żygis from the Leibniz-Centre General Linguistics (ZAS) in Berlin has investigated this question systematically for the first time. The study, published in December 2025 in the journal Phonetica, shows that spontaneous motivational calls follow four consistent acoustic patterns. In laboratory experiments, the researchers analyzed the calls of 30 participants in simulated marathon scenarios. The results demonstrate that cheering differs fundamentally from neutral speech, using extreme pitch and rhythm to signal maximum support.
Cheering along the route of a marathon usually happens completely intuitively. Spectators often spontaneously shout runners’ names to motivate them, without consciously considering the acoustic structure of their calls. Yet the physical and acoustic processes involved when spectators encourage athletes to continue their effort have hardly been systematically studied. For Dr. Marzena Żygis and colleagues, this very spontaneity was the starting point for examining the prosodic features of such motivational calls (inciting calls) in the laboratory.
Four strategies of acoustic motivation
The analysis of the calls recorded in the laboratory revealed four characteristic strategies speakers use to express their support:
Single production: Names are called separately, with similar duration and longer pauses.
Syllabic division: Names are broken down into individual syllables, emphasizing rhythmic articulation.
Mixed pattern: A combination of separately called names and syllabic segmentation.
Chanting pattern: A melodic call with often elongated syllables and multiple pitch peaks.
Higher, louder, slower
The acoustic analysis shows that cheering calls differ significantly from neutral speech in almost all parameters. To signal support, speakers use a considerably higher pitch (fundamental frequency) and a wider pitch range. The calls are also louder. Surprisingly, the overall speech rate is slower, as vowels are lengthened or deliberate pauses are inserted between syllables.
“Our random forest analysis revealed that F0, in our case the higher F0, is the most powerful parameter employed by speakers to produce cheers”, explains Dr. Marzena Żygis. The rhythmic repetition of names at regular intervals may also help synchronize with athletes’ movements and convey endurance.
The study involved the following institutions: (1) Leibniz-Centre General Linguistics (ZAS)
(2) Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (3) University of Luxembourg
Scientific contact
PD Dr. Marzena Żygis
E-mail: zygis@leibniz-zas.de
Original publication
Żygis, M., Wesolek, S., Hosseini-Kivanani, N., & Krifka, M. (2025). The prosody of cheering in sports events: the case of long-distance running. Phonetica, 82(6), 489–524. https://doi.org/10.1515/phon-2024-0034
Press contact
Dr. Fabienne Salfner
Press and Public Relations
Leibniz-Centre General Linguistics (ZAS)
Tel: +49 30 20192412
Mobile: +49 170 6127528
salfner@leibniz-zas.de