How music and speech evolved is a mystery. Several hypotheses on their origins, including one on their joint origins, have been put forward but rarely tested. Here we report and comment on the first experiment testing the hypothesis that speech and music bifurcated from a common system. We highlight strengths of the reported experiment, point out its relatedness to animal work, and suggest three alternative interpretations of its results. We conclude by sketching a future empirical programme extending this work.
Joint origins of speech and music: Testing evolutionary hypotheses on modern humans / Ravignani, A.; De Boer, B.. - In: SEMIOTICA. - ISSN 0037-1998. - 2021:239(2021), pp. 169-176. [10.1515/sem-2019-0048]
Joint origins of speech and music: Testing evolutionary hypotheses on modern humans
Ravignani A.
;
2021
Abstract
How music and speech evolved is a mystery. Several hypotheses on their origins, including one on their joint origins, have been put forward but rarely tested. Here we report and comment on the first experiment testing the hypothesis that speech and music bifurcated from a common system. We highlight strengths of the reported experiment, point out its relatedness to animal work, and suggest three alternative interpretations of its results. We conclude by sketching a future empirical programme extending this work.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
