Linguistics Midterm Review

For Dr. Celements Lin 126 class at Duke University

Hominid

Classification that refers to the group consisting of modern humans and all their ancestors, including all great apes (modern and extinct).

Hominin

classification only referring to the group consisting of modern humans and all their bipedal ancestors/species that existed after our divergence from chimpanzees.

Sahelanthropus Tchadensis

Currently the oldest known species in the human family tree.  Living between 7-6 MYA in northern/western central Africa, they are the first species to have shown upright bipedal walking and smaller canine teeth. They mark our (current) earliest known divergence from great apes.

Homo heidelbergensis

The most likely common ancestor between Homo Sapiens, Neanderthals, and Denisovians, existing between 700,000 to 200,000 years ago. They were the first to live in a colder climate, routinely hunt large animals, and to build shelters from wood and rock.

Homo Erectus

The first hominid to leave our birthplace in Africa, they lived ~2MYA  to 100KYA. They developed the Acheulean Industry of tool making, most importantly the stone hand axe, and are believed to be the first species to control fire. They were the first species that were approximately human-sized, with bigger brains, smaller teeth, and decreased sexual dimorphism. Also possessed protolanguage capabilities.

Homo habilis

The first species in the Homo genus, living ~2.4MYA. They started to develop more human-like traits, including: smaller teeth, a smaller stature, and a bigger brain. They are believed to have made and used the first stone tools, their name meaning “Handy man”.

Australopithecines

Living ~4MYA, they are a group/genus of extinct primates that are closely related to, if not actual ancestors, of modern humans.  Known as “Bipedal Apes”, they have a mix of human-like traits (Ex. standing upright and smaller canine teeth) and ape-like traits (Ex. smaller brain and their general body proportions).  Lucy belongs to a member of this genus.

Neanderthals

Living around 400-40 KYA in current day Europe and some parts of Asia, they are one of the closest known relatives to humans, though they are NOT our ancestors. They were shorter than humans, but had much more muscular builds along with distinct physical traits (Ex. very large brow bones, noses, and front teeth); all of which were adaptations to a colder environment.  They had the ability to control fire, wore clothing, hunted large animals, developed and used advanced stone tools, and even buried their dead. We share our FOXP2 gene with them.

Homo Sapiens

The classification of modern humans. They emerged out of Africa ~300KYA. “…likely descended from a set of interlinked groups of people, who were separated and connected at different times. Each one had different combinations of physical features, with their own mix of ancestral and modern traits”

Language

“A system for expressing thoughts, which can incorporate any one of several signaling systems” - Fitch, ch.7 ; the abstract system of words, symbols, and rules used to communicate meaning and our thoughts.

Speech

Complex, articulated vocalization. Though it is the main/default signaling system for humans across cultures, it is not the only one.

Out of Africa hypothesis

The widely accepted theory that proposes that the genus Homo first evolved in Africa, gradually migrating to other parts of the world and replacing all other existing hominids.

Rift Valley Theory / East-Side Hypothesis

The widely accepted theory/hypothesis that proposes that human’s evolved in the arid eastern side of the Great African Rift valley, while apes and chimpanzees evolved in the humid rainforests of the western side. 

Bipedalism / walking upright

It is not known specifically why we evolved this trait, but there are a many proposed reasons: more efficient movement, being able to easily cary things, improved vision over tall grass, temperature regulation, to appear larger, for better breathing, to support long distance running, and even to be able to throw things.

Paleospecies

A species of extinct organisms that is only known from the fossil record.

Cladistics

A method of classifying organisms according to the proportion of measurable characteristics that they have in common. It is assumed that the higher the proportion of characteristics that two organisms share, the more recently they diverged from a common ancestor.

Airstream

The first component of the vocal apparatus, it is the source of energy for speech/vocalization provided as air from the lungs.

Expatation

When a trait that evolved for one purpose is later used for another ; The evolutionary shift in the function of a trait.

Larynx

The second component of the vocal apparatus (including all it’s parts), it is the sound source in humans and most terrestrial mammals.  It is a hollow, muscular organ in our throats that contains the vocal folds/cords, modifying the airstream from the lungs. 

Phonation

A common mode of sound production in which elastic tissue is set into motion by flowing air. The motion of the tissue is what generates sound.

Vocal folds / vocal cords

The vibrating tissue flaps in the larynx that produce sound in most vertebrates. The length and shape of these tissues dictates the pitch and frequency of our voice. They are the source of vocal sexual dimorphism in humans.

Fundamental Frequency

Also known as F0 (zero), this is the rate at which the vocal folds/cords vibrate. It is the lowest and often strongest component of speech, but most vocalizations also contain additional frequency components.

Pitch

The highness/lowness of a sound determined by the speed of vocal fold/cord vibration. One of the very few sexual dimorphisms in humans.

SVT/ Supralayngeal Vocal Tract

The third component of the vocal apparatus, these structures add an additional layer of complexity to the sound of our voices. It includes the pharynx, oral cavity, and nasal cavity, as well as the articulatory structures of the tongue, lips, and soft palate. The three different cavities allow air to vibrate in them at multiple different frequencies.

FOXP2

The first gene discovered to have association to language and our linguistic abilities. It is located on the q arm of chromosome 7. Disruption of FOXP2 is characterized by CAS, and can cause inconsistent speech, issues with grammar and spelling, and difficulties with the motor sequencing of speech.

Vocal tract normalization

The perceptual adjustment of a listener to the vocal tract length of different speakers; The process where we adjust our perceptual expectations to the specific vocal tract length of a speaker.

Vocal immitation

“the capacity to incorporate into one's vocal repertoire novel sounds that are perceived in the environment.” Fitch ch.9 ; The ability to mimic or repeat sounds after hearing them. This is a crucial building block in terms of evolution for a species to develop language

Vocal learning

The capacity to acquire novel vocalizations and modify existing ones based on auditory experience ; “Changing some acoustic aspect of the call itself”. 

Arbitrariness

One of the traits that sets human language apart from other animal communication systems, it is the ability of the words and their forms that we use do not have to have any relation to their meanings.  “In other words, a rose, by any other name, would still smell as sweet.” Cuskley, p.2

Generative

One of the traits that sets human language apart from other animal communication systems, it is the ability of language systems to be used to generate new sentences and words.  The structure of language allows us to create theoretically infinite utterances, and word formation rules allow new forms to enter the language.

Displacement

One of the traits that sets human language apart from other animal communication systems, it is our ability to refer to things and events distant in space and time.

Reflexiveness

One of the traits that sets human language apart from other animal communication systems, it is the ability for us to not only talk about ourselves, but about language itself.

Protolanguage

An early stage of language evolution that has been compared to the language capabilities of young children and trained apes. The languages that we have today are believed to be evolutionary descendants of this.