Found 592 Documents across 60 Pages (0.008 seconds)
  1. Human sound systems are shaped by post-Neolithic changes in bite configurationBlasi, D.E. - Science, 2019 - 3 Hypotheses

    Using ethnography, historical linguistics, paleoanthropology, and speech biomechanics, the present study examines the relationship between labiodentals and the post-Neolithic period with the introduction of agriculture and softer diets. The results offer support for the linguist, Charles Hockett's, hypothesis that the shift in bite configuration in the post-Neolithic period, as well as the persistence of overbite and overjet, facilitates and makes the articulation of labiodentals more prevalent. Using cross-cultural comparison, findings also reveal that societies that produce their food are more likely to evolve and keep labiodentals than those that are not food-producing. Contact with other societiesis also a mode by which societies gain labiodentals. Lastly, the expansion of agricultural and food processing technology over time has been imperative to labiodental articulations.

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  2. Warm climates and sonority classes: not simply more vowels and fewer consonantsMunroe, Robert L. - Cross-Cultural Research, 2009 - 3 Hypotheses

    This article adds nuanced findings to the previous generalization that high sonority of the vowel explains its more frequent use in warmer climates. The authors find that “speakers in warm-climate languages make more use of the so-called “sonorant” consonants, that is, consonants with some of the qualities of vowels” (123).

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  3. Sound–meaning association biases evidenced across thousands of languagesBlasi, Damian E. - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2016 - 1 Hypotheses

    Scholars generally agree that, across languages, the relationship between particular sounds and the meaning of words is arbitrary. In this article the authors test this assumption, seeking patterned associations between sound and meaning in the basic vocabulary lists of a large, worldwide sample of languages.

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  4. Climate and the consonant-vowel (CV) syllable: a replication within language familiesMunroe, Robert L. - Cross-Cultural Research, 1999 - 3 Hypotheses

    Using a sample of four language families, this paper replicates previous findings on the relationship between consonant-vowel syllable use and climate. An secondary finding on the relationship between consonant-vowel syllable use and writing system was also replicated.

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  5. Cross-cultural correlates of the consonant-vowel (cv) syllableMunroe, Robert L. - Cross-Cultural Research, 1996 - 2 Hypotheses

    This study examines whether language construction, specifically the number of consonant-vowel syllables, will be related to the environment and literacy of a society. Empirical analysis suggests that consonant-vowel syllables are more common in warmer climates and less common in written languages.

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  6. High CV score: regular rhythm or sonority?Ember, Carol R. - American Anthropologist, 2000 - 2 Hypotheses

    This article is a response to Munroe, Fought, and Fought's comments on a previous study of sonority and climate. Authors suggest that the three indices used by Munroe, Fought, and Fought to measure sonority are not the same contruct and present new results that indicate an association between climate, topography, and vowel index.

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  7. Languages in Drier Climates Use Fewer VowelsEverett, Caleb - Frontiers in Psychology, 2017 - 1 Hypotheses

    This study sampled over 4,012 language varieties, comparing their version of 40 generally universal words, such as body parts, water, the sun, pronouns, and common behaviors or animals. These language variations were tested in their association to "specific humidity," the variable used to represent ambient humidity of a language location. Results suggest negative association between the dryness of climate and the utilization of vowels, consitent with the idea that dry air affects the behavior of the larynx.

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  8. Human language diversity and the acoustic adaptation hypothesisMaddieson, Ian - Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, 2015 - 1 Hypotheses

    In the field of bioacoustics, the Acoustic Adaptation theory suggests that variation in vocalization across different species can be accounted for by the acoustic properties of different habitats. Here, the researchers test consonant- and vowel-heaviness in human languages against various environmental variables in order to examine the theory's potential application to our own species. The authors identify a significant negative correlation between consonant heaviness and temperature, precipitation, and tree cover, and some positive correlation with rugosity and elevation as their most important findings, while acknowledging the potentially influential roles of migration and demographic factors in producing this relationship.

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  9. Sonority and climate in a world sample of languages: findings and prospectsFought, John G. - Cross-Cultural Research, 2004 - 2 Hypotheses

    This article examines the relationship between sonority and climate. Results suggest that languages spoken in warmer climates have higher levels of sonority than languages spoken in colder climates.

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  10. Naming the days of the week: a cross-language study of lexical acculturationBrown, Cecil H. - Current Anthropology, 1989 - 1 Hypotheses

    This paper provides a linguistic study of the effect of lexical acculturation on the names given to days of the week. Findings show that loan words are used most frequently adopted for weekend days, followed by the days of the week that are closest to the weekends, and least frequently adopted for the days in the middle of the seven-day cycle.

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