https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vb55kb/burps-in-rick-and-morty-are-paralingual-expression-of-emotion-linguist-says

Everyone makes paralinguistic sounds every day. We clear our throat, we gasp. When an editor narrows his eyes and says “mm hmm,” he doesn’t have to say an actual word. I know what he means. Burps, too, can be an important part of a conversation, but linguists have struggled to study their paralinguistic aspects because there’s not much burping data to study. Enter Rick and Morty and its ever belching anti-hero Rick Sanchez.

University of Southern California paralinguistic researcher Brooke Kinder has analyzed Rick’s burps to study its unique patterns, and suggests that—at least according to Rick and Morty—burping can be used to express emotion or assert dominance. She presented her work at a meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in San Diego. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America published her study, “Acoustic Characteristics of Belching in Speech.”