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Related Experiment Videos

The evolution of speech: a comparative review.

Fitch1

  • 1Dept of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, and in the Program in Speech and Hearing Science, Harvard University/MIT, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

Trends in Cognitive Sciences
|June 22, 2000
PubMed
Summary

Studying the evolution of speech is possible by examining shared traits with animals. Comparative analysis of living species offers insights into vocal tract changes and vocal imitation, providing an alternative to inconclusive fossil data.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Bioacoustics
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • The evolution of human speech is complex, requiring vocal tract modifications and vocal imitation.
  • Fossil data has been inconclusive in determining the timing of these evolutionary changes.
  • Most aspects of speech, including acoustics, physiology, and neural control, are shared with animals, allowing for empirical investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the evolution of speech independently from language evolution.
  • To investigate the potential of comparative analysis of living species as an alternative to fossil data for understanding speech evolution.
  • To examine the ancestral use of formants and the adaptive functions of vocal imitation.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative analysis of nonhuman primates to understand formant usage.

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  • Comparative analysis of vocal imitation across diverse vertebrate species (humans, cetaceans, seals, birds).
  • Review of existing literature on speech evolution, vocal tract morphology, and vocal imitation.

    • Main Results:

    • Formants, crucial for human speech, were ancestrally used by nonhuman primates for individual identification and body size assessment.
    • Comparative analysis of vocal imitation in diverse species provides testable hypotheses on the adaptive functions of vocal mimicry.
    • Comparative data from living species offers a viable alternative to inconclusive fossil data for studying speech evolution.

    Conclusions:

    • The evolution of speech can be effectively studied by analyzing shared traits with animals.
    • Comparative analysis of living species provides valuable insights into the evolution of vocal tract morphology and vocal imitation.
    • The neural basis of vocal mimicry and mimesis remains an area for future research.