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The evolution of speech: vision, rhythm, cooperation
Asif A Ghazanfar1, Daniel Y Takahashi2
1Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Departments of Psychology and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
|July 23, 2014
Summary
Human speech evolution involved multisensory, rhythmic, and cooperative elements. Rhythmic facial movements combined with vocalizations may represent an early form of audiovisual speech, with cooperation arising from volubility and prosociality.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Primatology
- Linguistics
Background:
- Human speech is multisensory, rhythmic, and cooperative.
- Non-human primates perceive vocalization-facial posture links.
- Monkey vocalizations possess acoustic rhythmicity but lack facial synchrony.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the evolutionary origins of human speech.
- To investigate the role of audiovisual synchrony in speech evolution.
- To understand the emergence of vocal cooperation (turn-taking).
Main Methods:
- Review of existing data on primate vocalizations and facial expressions.
- Comparative analysis of audiovisual communication in humans and non-human primates.
- Hypothesis testing on the evolution of rhythmic audiovisual speech and vocal cooperation.
Main Results:
- Rhythmic facial expressions (e.g., lip-smacking) may have coupled with vocalizations in ancestral species.
- This audiovisual coupling could have formed an early, rhythmic speech precursor.
- Vocal cooperation likely evolved from a combination of volubility and prosociality.
Conclusions:
- Human speech evolution is rooted in multisensory, rhythmic, and cooperative communication systems.
- Audiovisual synchrony between vocalizations and facial movements is a key factor in speech origins.
- The development of turn-taking in human vocal interaction is linked to increased vocal output and social bonding.
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