Jean-Louis Heim

The potential Neandertal vowel space was as large as that of modern humans

Abstract Since Lieberman and Crelin (1971) postulated the theory that Neandertals “could not produce the range of sounds that characterize human speech”, the potential speech capability of Neandertals has been the subject of hot debate. Lieberman and Crelin claimed that the development of a low laryngeal position was a necessary condition for the realization of a sufficient number of vocalic contrasts, since the potential vowel space was enlarged due to an enlarged pharyngeal cavity. Like newborn infants, Neandertals did not possess this “anatomical basis of speech”, and therefore could not speak. Lieberman and Crelin further claimed that this fact may have caused the, otherwise mysterious, extinction of the Neandertal. In this study, we refute the articulatory and acoustic arguments developed by Lieberman and Crelin in their theory. Using a new anthropomorphic articulatory model, we infer that the vowel space of the Neandertal male was no smaller than that of a modern human, and we present vowel simulations to corroborate this hypothesis. Our study is strictly limited to the morphological and acoustic aspects of the vocal tract, and we cannot therefore offer any definitive answer to the question of whether Neandertals spoke or not. However, we do feel safe in claiming that Neandertals were not morphologically handicapped for speech. A low larynx (and large pharynx) cannot be considered to be the “anatomical prerequisites for producing the full range of human speech”. There is, therefore, no reason to believe that the lowering of the larynx and a concomitant increase in pharynx size are necessary evolutionary preadaptations for speech.

The vocal tract of newborn humans and Neanderthals: Acoustic capabilities and consequences for the debate on the origin of language. A reply to Lieberman (2007a)

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Nouvelle méthode d'estimation de l'âge dentaire des Néandertaliens

Resume La dyschronie de croissance entre les dents permanentes des Neandertaliens et celles de l’Homme moderne que nous avons remarquee et etudiee n’a jamais ete reellement quantifiee meme par les autres auteurs qui l’ont aussi observee. La maturation dentaire est le moyen le plus utilise pour estimer l’âge au deces des Neandertaliens, d’ou son importance. Nous presentons ici une etude approfondie realisee sur des dents lacteales et permanentes immatures de jeunes Neandertaliens, dont les resultats nous ont conduits a une elaboration plus scientifique d’un modele de maturation dentaire de l’homme de Neandertal permettant d’estimer l’âge dentaire de ce dernier directement, sans avoir recours aux tables de la chronologie dentaire moderne. Nous proposons deux methodes, l’une necessitant l’application de deux formules mathematiques, l’autre permettant, sur un tableau, d’estimer directement l’âge d’un Neandertalien d’apres le degre de maturation des dents lacteales et permanentes.