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Did the Neanderthals Produce Complex Speech?
Chairman of the Pacific Voice & Speech Foundation, San Francisco, CA, USA
Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA (Died, August 2021)
Vice-Chair of the Pacific Voice & Speech Foundation, San Francisco, CA, USA
Departments of Pediatrics and Cellular & Molecular Medicine, Director of the Stem Cell Program and Archealization Center, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
Vice President of The World Voice Consortium, Oporto, Portugal
San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco, CA, USA
Chief of Voice Clinic at the Head & Neck Surgery Department & HNS Residency Program Director, Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, CA, USA
- 1 Chairman of the Pacific Voice & Speech Foundation, San Francisco, CA, USA
- 2 Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA (Died, August 2021)
- 3 Vice-Chair of the Pacific Voice & Speech Foundation, San Francisco, CA, USA
- 4 Departments of Pediatrics and Cellular & Molecular Medicine, Director of the Stem Cell Program and Archealization Center, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- 5 Vice President of The World Voice Consortium, Oporto, Portugal
- 6 San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco, CA, USA
- 7 Chief of Voice Clinic at the Head & Neck Surgery Department & HNS Residency Program Director, Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, CA, USA
Open Journal of Modern Linguistics·Volume 11 (2021)·Pages 849–853·Published 23 November 2021·DOI10.4236/ojml.2021.116065
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Abstract
Purpose: Paleoanthropologists link the discovery of the modern human-like hyoid bone (HB) in Neanderthal skeleton remains at Kebara Cave (Israel) as the pivotal evolutionary step associated with speech development. This finding is cited as evidence Neanderthals produced complex speech, yet this association remains controversial. Conclusion: Here, we present clinical and scientific evidence challenging the pivotal role of the HB in producing speech, and suggest that CNS development was more fundamental than the presence of HB to speech production.
KeywordsModern Human-Like Hyoid BoneSpeech DevelopmentNeanderthals
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