PSY274H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Homo Erectus, Vocal Tract, Onomatopoeia
Document Summary
Design features used to evaluate communication systems, not animals. Are not about attempts to teach animals to use human language or constructed communication systems. 1866: societe de linguistique de paris banned discussion on this topic. Bow-wow theory: language came about through the imitation of auditory sounds in their environment (i. e. animal noises, wind blowing, etc. ) Problem: not a very common feature of language. Pooh-pooh theory: language based on sounds that humans spontaneously produce ( typically emotional reactions); served as initial stepping stones for language. Evidence: universal use of interjective sounds (ouch, oww, etc. ) Yo-he-ho theory: language emerged from sounds one would make when doing work; collective noise making. Evidence: use of rhythmic features in language, similar to la-la theory (language evolved from singing) The link between vocal abilities and language. Compared to great apes, humans appear poorly adapted to swallowing/can choke to death; not physiological possible in primates. Allows for production of wide range of speech sounds.
