Lameira, AR, Vicente, R, Alexandre, A, Campbell-Smith, G, Knott, C, Wich, SA and Hardus, HE (2017) Proto-consonants were information-dense via identical bioacoustic tags to proto-vowels. Nature Human Behaviour. ISSN 2397-3374

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Abstract

Why did our ancestors combine the first consonant- and 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 vs. proto-vowels before their combined use became universal. Close to 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 analyzed 4486 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 nonhuman primate voiced vowel-like calls, implying similar biological functions. Selection regimes between proto-consonants and -vowels were, thus, probably indistinguishable at the dawn of spoken language evolution. Our findings suggest that the first proto syllables or -words in our lineage probably constituted message reiterations, instead of messages of increasing intricacy.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics Q Science > QH Natural history
Divisions:	Natural Sciences & Psychology (closed 31 Aug 19)
Publisher:	Macmillan Publishers Ltd
Date Deposited:	17 Jan 2017 09:13
Last Modified:	04 Sep 2021 12:08
DOI or ID number:	10.1038/s41562-017-0044
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/5199

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