Patterson D K, Pepperberg I M
Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721.
J Acoust Soc Am. 1994 Aug;96(2 Pt 1):634-48. doi: 10.1121/1.410303.
General acoustic and articulatory parallels between human and avian production of human vowels have been identified. A complete set of vowels from an African Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) and a limited set from a Yellow-naped Amazon parrot (Amazonica ochrocephala auropalliata) have been analyzed. Comparison of human and avian acoustic parameters demonstrated both differences (e.g., absolute values of first formant frequencies) and similarities (e.g., separation of vowels into back and front categories with respect to tongue placement) in acoustic properties of avian and human speech. Similarities and differences were also found in articulatory mechanisms: Parrots, for example, use their tongues in some but not all the ways used by humans to produce vowels. Because humans perceive and correctly label vowels produced by psittacids despite differences in avian and human articulatory and acoustic parameters, the findings (a) are consistent with research that demonstrates the flexibility of vowel perception by humans and (b) suggest that the perceptual discontinuities that are exploited by speech may be basic to vertebrates rather than to mammals.
人类与鸟类发出人类元音时在声学和发音方面的一般相似之处已被确认。对一只非洲灰鹦鹉（Psittacus erithacus）发出的一整套元音以及一只黄颈亚马逊鹦鹉（Amazonica ochrocephala auropalliata）发出的一套有限元音进行了分析。人类与鸟类声学参数的比较表明，在鸟类和人类语音的声学特性方面既有差异（例如，第一共振峰频率的绝对值）也有相似之处（例如，根据舌头位置将元音分为后元音和前元音类别）。在发音机制方面也发现了异同：例如，鹦鹉使用舌头发出元音的方式与人类有一些相同，但并非全部相同。尽管鸟类和人类的发音及声学参数存在差异，但人类能够感知并正确识别鹦鹉发出的元音，这些发现（a）与证明人类元音感知具有灵活性的研究一致，（b）表明语音所利用的感知不连续性可能是脊椎动物而非哺乳动物所共有的基本特征。
