Language Evolution, Symbolic Cognition, Language Acquisition, Brain Development, Origin of the Human Mind | Terrence Deacon | 20
Mind & Matter
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The Role of Vocalizations and Prosodic Features in Human and Primate Communication
Human beings have a small repertoire of innate vocalizations that has degraded due to the dominance of linguistic communication. The prosodic features of language, such as speaking faster and with higher frequency when excited, are similar to primate calls. Primate calls also change in frequency and become more nasal when soliciting aid, conveying emotional and autonomic signals. In human speech, these emotional and autonomic signals are subordinated to language, leading to more diminutive and demanding vocalizations.
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