23.03.2021 Dan Dediu

It is widely accepted that language and speech are complex adaptive systems that must be understood within the broad framework of cultural evolution. That means, among other things, that language and speech change under adaptive pressures generated from their environment, but what are those pressures, what is that environment, and what sort of changes do they produce? I will try to sketch an answer to these general questions by focusing on a very particular case, namely the shaping -- at least, in part -- of phonetic and phonological diversity by variation in the human vocal tract. I will review the ways in which various aspects of the vocal tract vary, the reasons they do so, and their effects on, for example, the constrained distribution of phonemic clicks, of the labiodentals, and even on the manner of articulation of the North American English "r". However, the main aim of this seminar is to highlight a new direction in the language sciences that is currently developing rapidly, and which not only produces surprising results but also may help re-shape the way we see language, evolving at the interface between the eco-physical environment, our biology, psychology, society and culture.

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