3 ms·
Strange that this article doesn't mention any of the current research into what the cause is. [Erich Jarvis](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Jarvis https:
by bobbylarrybobby 4y ago
Strange that this article doesn't mention any of the current research into what the cause is. [Erich Jarvis](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Jarvis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Jarvis) has done research into the neurological mechanisms and seems to have discovered that animals capable of complex speech patterns have some mutations that permit a neural connection to grow from the motor cortex to the larynx (or syrinx in birds) by way of the brain stem. In other words, we can make complex vocalizations in part because we have fine motor control over our voice box, whereas most other animals do not.
This is only part of the story — there's still the question of how auditory information makes it in as an input so that we can replicate sounds we've heard — but it's a pretty big part for TFA to omit.
- WalterBright 4y agoYet people can make perfectly intelligible speech without using the larynx at all - whispering. People can also speak using a vibrator pressed against the throat.
- unixgoddess 4y agomore importantly, people can make perfectly intelligible speech using a completely different set of symbols, for example writing, whistling^1, hand gestures (sign language), pictures, etc. Of course language is purely neural! ^1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistled_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistled_language