Publication:

Human sound systems are shaped by post-Neolithic changes in bite configuration

Date

Date

Date
2019
Journal Article
Published version

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Blasi, D. E., Moran, S., Moisik, S. R., Widmer, P., Dediu, D., & Bickel, B. (2019). Human sound systems are shaped by post-Neolithic changes in bite configuration. Science, 363(6432), eaav3218. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aav3218

Abstract

Abstract

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Human speech manifests itself in spectacular diversity, ranging from ubiquitous sounds such as “m” and “a” to the rare click consonants in some languages of southern Africa. This range is generally thought to have been fixed by biological constraints since at least the emergence of Homo sapiens. At the same time, the abundance of each sound in the languages of the world is commonly taken to depend on how easy the sound is to produce, perceive, and learn. This dependency is also regarded as fixed at the species level. RAT

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11 since deposited on 2019-03-21
Acq. date: 2025-11-13

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759 since deposited on 2019-03-21
Acq. date: 2025-11-13

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Journal/Series Title

Journal/Series Title

Journal/Series Title

Volume

Volume

Volume
363

Number

Number

Number
6432

Page range/Item number

Page range/Item number

Page range/Item number
eaav3218

Item Type

Item Type

Item Type
Journal Article

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Dewey Decimal Classifikation

Dewey Decimal Classifikation

Keywords

Multidisciplinary

Language

Language

Language
English

Publication date

Publication date

Publication date
2019-03-15

Date available

Date available

Date available
2019-03-21

ISSN or e-ISSN

ISSN or e-ISSN

ISSN or e-ISSN
0036-8075

Additional Information

Additional Information

Additional Information
In 1985, the linguist Charles Hockett proposed that the use of teeth and jaws as tools in hunter-gatherer populations makes consonants produced with lower lip and upper teeth (“f” and “v” sounds) hard to produce. He thus conjectured that these sounds were a recent innovation in human language. Blasi et al. combined paleoanthropology, speech sciences, historical linguistics, and methods from evolutionary biology to provide evidence for a Neolithic global change in the sound systems of the world's languages. Spoken languages have thus been shaped by changes in the human bite configuration owing to changes in dietary and behavioral practices since the Neolithic.

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OA Status
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Downloads

11 since deposited on 2019-03-21
Acq. date: 2025-11-13

Views

759 since deposited on 2019-03-21
Acq. date: 2025-11-13

Citations

Citation copied

Blasi, D. E., Moran, S., Moisik, S. R., Widmer, P., Dediu, D., & Bickel, B. (2019). Human sound systems are shaped by post-Neolithic changes in bite configuration. Science, 363(6432), eaav3218. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aav3218

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