Human sound systems are shaped by post-Neolithic changes in bite configuration
Linguistic diversity, now and in the past, is widely regarded to be independent of biological changes that took place after the emergence of Homo sapiens. We show converging evidence from paleoanthropology, speech biomechanics, ethnography, and historical linguistics that labiodental sounds (such as...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/151609 |
| _version_ | 1811680806217711616 |
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| author | Blasi, D. E. Moran, S. Moisik, Scott Reid Widmer, P. Dediu, D. Bickel, B. |
| author2 | School of Humanities |
| author_facet | School of Humanities Blasi, D. E. Moran, S. Moisik, Scott Reid Widmer, P. Dediu, D. Bickel, B. |
| author_sort | Blasi, D. E. |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Linguistic diversity, now and in the past, is widely regarded to be independent of biological changes that took place after the emergence of Homo sapiens. We show converging evidence from paleoanthropology, speech biomechanics, ethnography, and historical linguistics that labiodental sounds (such as “f” and “v”) were innovated after the Neolithic. Changes in diet attributable to food-processing technologies modified the human bite from an edge-to-edge configuration to one that preserves adolescent overbite and overjet into adulthood. This change favored the emergence and maintenance of labiodentals. Our findings suggest that language is shaped not only by the contingencies of its history, but also by culturally induced changes in human biology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T03:30:54Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/151609 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T03:30:54Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1516092021-06-22T07:42:16Z Human sound systems are shaped by post-Neolithic changes in bite configuration Blasi, D. E. Moran, S. Moisik, Scott Reid Widmer, P. Dediu, D. Bickel, B. School of Humanities Humanities::Linguistics Tooth Wear Dental Pathology Linguistic diversity, now and in the past, is widely regarded to be independent of biological changes that took place after the emergence of Homo sapiens. We show converging evidence from paleoanthropology, speech biomechanics, ethnography, and historical linguistics that labiodental sounds (such as “f” and “v”) were innovated after the Neolithic. Changes in diet attributable to food-processing technologies modified the human bite from an edge-to-edge configuration to one that preserves adolescent overbite and overjet into adulthood. This change favored the emergence and maintenance of labiodentals. Our findings suggest that language is shaped not only by the contingencies of its history, but also by culturally induced changes in human biology. Supported by NWO VIDI grant 276-70-022, an EURIAS fellowship 2017–2018, and an IDEXLyon Fellowship 2018–2021 (D.D.) and by a subsidy of the Russian Government to support the Programme of Competitive Development of Kazan Federal University (D.E.B.). 2021-06-22T07:42:16Z 2021-06-22T07:42:16Z 2019 Journal Article 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://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aav3218 0036-8075 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/151609 10.1126/science.aav3218 30872490 2-s2.0-85062944775 6432 363 eaav3218 en Science © 2019 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. |
| spellingShingle | Humanities::Linguistics Tooth Wear Dental Pathology Blasi, D. E. Moran, S. Moisik, Scott Reid Widmer, P. Dediu, D. Bickel, B. Human sound systems are shaped by post-Neolithic changes in bite configuration |
| title | Human sound systems are shaped by post-Neolithic changes in bite configuration |
| title_full | Human sound systems are shaped by post-Neolithic changes in bite configuration |
| title_fullStr | Human sound systems are shaped by post-Neolithic changes in bite configuration |
| title_full_unstemmed | Human sound systems are shaped by post-Neolithic changes in bite configuration |
| title_short | Human sound systems are shaped by post-Neolithic changes in bite configuration |
| title_sort | human sound systems are shaped by post neolithic changes in bite configuration |
| topic | Humanities::Linguistics Tooth Wear Dental Pathology |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/151609 |
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