From: Gerry Reinhart-Waller
Message: 1525
Date: 2000-02-16
>Hi Marc, your answer is very concise and very biological which it should
> >> >> >> >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
>
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