What is it about?
Because sound is transmitted in different ways depending on variables such air temperature and the presence of obstacles, researchers have suggested that animal communication systems (especially bird songs) are affected by the environment where they are used. We suggest that some of the differences between human languages may also be accounted for in the same way.
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Why is it important?
The richness of human language is one of the most striking specialization of humans as a species. Since language is of such importance, insights into the factors that shape its structures in different ways are of great interest to understanding this unique human capacity.
Perspectives
This article is an early step in what I hope will be a deeper investigation into the relation of human language and the speakers' environment.
Ian Maddieson
University of New Mexico
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Human language diversity and the acoustic adaptation hypthesis, January 2015, Acoustical Society of America (ASA),
DOI: 10.1121/2.0000198.
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