>> >> >> >Glen, could you possibly explain what the problem is with the
tongue and vocal cords of chimps?
>> >> >> Nothing! In fact they're quite tasty with a little wine sauce,
simmered over a low heat. But putting high-brow cuisine aside (or should I
say tongue-and-cheek cuisine), they simply don't have the ability to speak
like us because of their anatomy. That's probably all that's keeping chimps
from fully replacing the workers at AT&T. :) - gLeN
>> >> >Er, Glen, I thought you had said that the anatomy of chimp and
human was similar regarding tongue and vocal cords. Or are you saying that
the anatomy is different? But my question is: is the difference great
enough to prevent the chimp from speaking? Gerry 2/13/99
>> >> Gerry, there are a lot of differences in oral anatomy between humans &
chimps, eg, humans have everted lips, a smaller mouth, less prognathism, a
highly vaulted palate, a smooth palate vault, a round tongue, a descended os
hyoid & larynx. Moreover, the cerebral control in humans is about twice that
in chimps (area 4) and the coordination of area 4 by the prefrontal areas is
much better developed in humans (eg, area 44 or Broca). Yes, these
differences are great enough to prevent them from speaking. Marc
>> >Thanks Marc. That's the explanation I was looking for. And it was so
succinctly worded as well. So although chimps can be taught wrote tasks,
the chimp will never speak a "Nostratic" language. Correct? Gerry
2/14/00
>> Correct. Marc
>And Marc, why will chimps never be able to speak a Nostratic language? Is
it because of their hard wiring or because they don't have a template
imbedded in their brain? IOW, are you pro or anti Chomsky? Gerry
2/15/00
Chomsky has fabricated difficult generative "rules", which don't explain
anything. I prefer linguists like Greenberg & Comrie & Dik. But I don't see
what this has to do with chimps. Chimps don't have our enlarged area 4
(precentral areas) for the control over the fine movements of the oral
cavity, they lack our coordination of these areas by area 44 (Broca), they
have a rather different anatomy of the mouth & throat (see above), probably
they have different & smaller temporal areas for the analysis of speech
sounds, and they lack our enlarged association areas in the brain. Raised in
a human family & after years of training they can't say more than 3 or 4
different "words". Besides that, I don't think there is a sharp difference
in biological neural systems between hard & soft ware (IOW, I don't know
what you mean by "template").
Marc