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Structural harmony and Neandertäl speech: A reply to Le May
Author(s) -
Lieberman Philip
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330450310
Subject(s) - vocal tract , harmony (color) , biology , anatomy , population , zoology , evolutionary biology , medicine , speech recognition , computer science , art , environmental health , visual arts
The Neandertäl supralaryngeal vocal tract reconstruction reported by Lieberman and Crelin ('71) is based on the methods of comparative anatomy. Normal adult‐like humans have a skeletal morphology in harmony with the soft tissue of their vocal tracts. This is also the case for non‐human primates and human newborns who have a different skeletal morphology in harmony with a different vocal tract. The “bits and pieces” that together constitute functional complexes are under separate and complex genetic control. The conditions discussed by Le May ('75) can result in the retention of some features of the skeletal morphology of a newborn in association with an adult‐like supralaryngeal vocal tract. However, these examples cannot show how the soft tissue of the supralaryngeal hominid vocal tract would match the skeletal structure of a fossil hominid, if the fossil hominid population were subject to the same selectional forces operant on all living primates. The Neandertäl supralaryngeal tract is thus probably in harmony with its skeletal morphology and similar to that of a human newborn.