13.07.2021

The sounds of prehistoric speech

Colloquium by Prof. Dr. Caleb Everett

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Time: Tuesday, 13th July 2021, 4pm sharp (please note the change in time)

Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/97793997281?pwd=ZmtaSGM0WlY1YlFBRWh0dDJoZW01Zz09
Meeting-ID: 977 9399 7281
Kenncode: 918294

Speaker: Prof. Dr. Caleb Everett (University of Miami)

Title:  The sounds of prehistoric speech

Abstract: 
Evidence is reviewed for widespread phonological and phonetic tendencies in contemporary languages. The evidence is based largely on the frequency of sound types in word lists and in phoneme inventories across the world's languages. The data reviewed point to likely tendencies in the languages of the Upper Palaeolithic. These tendencies include the reliance on specific nasal and voiceless stop consonants, the relative dispreference for posterior voiced consonants and the use of peripheral vowels. More tenuous hypotheses related to prehistoric languages are also reviewed. These include the propositions that such languages lacked labiodental consonants and relied more heavily on vowels, when contrasted to many contemporary languages. Such hypotheses suggest speech has adapted to subtle pressures that may in some cases vary across populations.

Link to the full paper: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2020.0195

We welcome you all to join us via Zoom and we will send around the specific link on the day before the talk.