Nishimura_et_al_2022.pdf (4.26 MB)
Evolutionary loss of complexity in human vocal anatomy as an adaptation for speech
journal contribution
posted on 2023-08-30, 20:15 authored by Takeshi Nishimura, Isao T Tokuda, Shigehiro Miyachi, Jacob C Dunn, Christian T Herbst, Kazuyoshi Ishimura, Akihisa Kaneko, Yuki Kinoshita, Hiroki Koda, Jaap PP Saers, Hirohiko Imai, Tetsuya Matsuda, Ole Næsbye Larsen, Uwe Jürgens, Hideki Hirabayashi, Shozo Kojima, W Tecumseh FitchHuman speech production obeys the same acoustic principles as vocal production in other animals but has distinctive features: A stable vocal source is filtered by rapidly changing formant frequencies. To understand speech evolution, we examined a wide range of primates, combining observations of phonation with mathematical modeling. We found that source stability relies upon simplifications in laryngeal anatomy, specifically the loss of air sacs and vocal membranes. We conclude that the evolutionary loss of vocal membranes allows human speech to mostly avoid the spontaneous nonlinear phenomena and acoustic chaos common in other primate vocalizations. This loss allows our larynx to produce stable, harmonic-rich phonation, ideally highlighting formant changes that convey most phonetic information. Paradoxically, the increased complexity of human spoken language thus followed simplification of our laryngeal anatomy.
History
Refereed
- Yes
Volume
377Issue number
6607Page range
760-763Publication title
ScienceISSN
1095-9203External DOI
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)File version
- Accepted version
Language
- eng
Legacy posted date
2022-09-16Legacy creation date
2022-09-16Legacy Faculty/School/Department
Faculty of Science & EngineeringUsage metrics
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