When did humans first begin to speak, which speech sounds were uttered first, and when did language evolve from those humble beginnings? These questions have long fascinated people, especially in tracing the evolution of ...
Evolution
Dec 12, 2022
0
251
A study by the University of York and Aarhus University has revealed that baby talk displays similar properties across 36 languages.
Social Sciences
Oct 10, 2022
0
103
Phonetic convergence, or phonetic imitation, is a form of speech production in which a talker's speech becomes similar to that of the person with whom they are speaking. In a recent article published in the journal Speech ...
Social Sciences
Oct 3, 2022
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219
An ongoing debate among scientists, on why chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates cannot speak or sing like humans, has focused mainly on evolutionary changes in human brain development. Attention has now expanded to anatomical ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 11, 2022
0
113
Our language is changing constantly. Researchers of the University of Vienna found that, over centuries, frequently occurring speech sound patterns get even more frequent. The reason for this development is that our brain ...
Social Sciences
May 5, 2022
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33
In languages spoken around the world, words describing rough surfaces are highly likely to feature a "trilled /r/" sound—a linguistic pattern that stretches back over 6,000 years, a new study reveals. The international ...
Other
Jan 20, 2022
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464
Most people around the world agree that the made-up word 'bouba' sounds round in shape, and the made-up word 'kiki' sounds pointy—a discovery that may help to explain how spoken languages develop, according to a new study.
Social Sciences
Nov 16, 2021
1
240
A recent survey of 2,000 adults in the UK identified the top ten "mispronunciations" people find annoying. Thankfully the majority (65 percent) of annoyed people do not feel comfortable correcting a speaker in public.
Social Sciences
Jun 25, 2021
4
6
Humans learn to speak by mimicking speech sounds. Are there other mammals who can learn sounds by imitation? In an experimental study, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen and the Ludwig ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 22, 2020
0
62
An international research team has uncoupled the mystery of how Tuvan throat singers produce distinctive sounds in which you can hear two different pitches at once—a low rumble and a high whistle-like tone.
Other
Mar 10, 2020
0
280
