Department of Anthropology, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2021 May 10;376(1824):20200195. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0195. Epub 2021 Mar 22.
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. This article is part of the theme issue 'Reconstructing prehistoric languages'.
本文回顾了当代语言中广泛存在的语音和音系倾向的证据。这些证据主要基于世界各地语言的单词列表和音位系统中声音类型的频率。综述的数据指向了旧石器时代晚期语言中可能存在的倾向。这些倾向包括对特定鼻音和清塞音的依赖，对后位浊辅音的相对不偏好以及对边缘元音的使用。本文还回顾了与史前语言相关的更不确定的假说。其中包括这样的假说，即这些语言缺乏唇齿辅音，并且与许多当代语言相比，更多地依赖元音。这些假说表明，语音已经适应了可能在某些情况下因人群而异的微妙压力。本文是主题为“重建史前语言”的特刊的一部分。
