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Proto-consonants were information-dense via identical bioacoustic tags to proto-vowels
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dc.contributor.author | Lameira, Adriano R. | |
dc.contributor.author | Vicente, Raquel | |
dc.contributor.author | Alexandre, António | |
dc.contributor.author | Campbell-Smith, Gail | |
dc.contributor.author | Knott, Cheryl | |
dc.contributor.author | Wich, Serge | |
dc.contributor.author | Hardus, Madeleine E. | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2018-01-11T15:30:10Z | |
dc.date.available | 2018-01-11T15:30:10Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2017-02-08 | |
dc.identifier | 252018166 | |
dc.identifier | 1a1acc38-ad2c-477c-b306-ab29bee84057 | |
dc.identifier | 85021640798 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Lameira , A R , Vicente , R , Alexandre , A , Campbell-Smith , G , Knott , C , Wich , S & Hardus , M E 2017 , ' Proto-consonants were information-dense via identical bioacoustic tags to proto-vowels ' , Nature Human Behaviour , vol. 1 , 0044 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0044 | en |
dc.identifier.issn | 2397-3374 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10023/12467 | |
dc.description.abstract | Why did our ancestors combine the first consonant- A nd vowel-like utterances to produce the first syllable or word? To answer this question, it is essential to know what constituted the communicative function of proto-consonants and of proto-vowels before their combined use became universal. Almost nothing is known, however, about consonant-like calls in the primate order1,2. Here, we investigate a large collection of voiceless consonant-like calls in nonhuman great apes (our closest relatives), namely orangutans (Pongo spp.). We analysed 4,486 kiss-squeaks collected across 48 individuals in four wild populations. Despite idiosyncratic production mechanics, consonant-like calls displayed information-dense content and the same acoustic signatures found in voiced vowel-like calls by nonhuman primates, implying similar biological functions. Selection regimes between proto-consonants and proto-vowels were thus probably indistinguishable at the dawn of spoken language evolution. Our findings suggest that the first proto-syllables or proto-words in our lineage probably constituted message reiterations, instead of messages of increasing intricacy. | |
dc.format.extent | 908693 | |
dc.language.iso | eng | |
dc.relation.ispartof | Nature Human Behaviour | en |
dc.subject | BF Psychology | en |
dc.subject | RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry | en |
dc.subject | Experimental and Cognitive Psychology | en |
dc.subject | Social Psychology | en |
dc.subject | Behavioral Neuroscience | en |
dc.subject | NDAS | en |
dc.subject.lcc | BF | en |
dc.subject.lcc | RC0321 | en |
dc.title | Proto-consonants were information-dense via identical bioacoustic tags to proto-vowels | en |
dc.type | Journal article | en |
dc.contributor.institution | University of St Andrews. School of Psychology and Neuroscience | en |
dc.contributor.institution | University of St Andrews. Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution | en |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1038/s41562-017-0044 | |
dc.description.status | Peer reviewed | en |
dc.identifier.url | http://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/5199 | en |
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