Weak biases emerging from vocal tract anatomy shape the repeated transmission of vowels
Weak biases emerging from vocal tract anatomy shape the repeated transmission of vowels
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DOI：
10.1038/s41562-019-0663-x
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发表时间：
2019-10-01
影响因子：
29.9
通讯作者：
Moisik, Scott R.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Dediu, Dan;Janssen, Rick;Moisik, Scott R.
语言多样性受到多种因素的影响，但通常认为语言器官解剖结构的变化不能解释语言多样性。在这里，我们使用人类语言器官的逼真计算机模型来测试个体之间和群体之间硬腭（口腔的骨状上颚）形状的变化是否会影响语音的声学效果。基于107个人类参与者的硬腭正中矢状面MRI扫描，我们高精度地模拟了一组五个跨语言代表性元音的发音，这些元音是由学习发声的智能体发出的。我们发现，不同的硬腭形状会导致产生元音的声学和发音策略的细微差异，并且这些个人层面的语言特质会被语言在几代人之间的反复传播所放大。因此，我们认为，除了文化和环境，定量的生物变异可以被放大，也会影响语言。
Linguistic diversity is affected by multiple factors, but it is usually assumed that variation in the anatomy of our speech organs plays no explanatory role. Here we use realistic computer models of the human speech organs to test whether inter-individual and inter-group variation in the shape of the hard palate (the bony roof of the mouth) affects acoustics of speech sounds. Based on 107 midsagittal MRI scans of the hard palate of human participants, we modelled with high accuracy the articulation of a set of five cross-linguistically representative vowels by agents learning to produce speech sounds. We found that different hard palate shapes result in subtle differences in the acoustics and articulatory strategies of the produced vowels, and that these individual-level speech idiosyncrasies are amplified by the repeated transmission of language across generations. Therefore, we suggest that, besides culture and environment, quantitative biological variation can be amplified, also influencing language.