Login With Google
Neolithic diet helped develop ‘f’ sound
Why in news?
- The study indicates that language is not merely a random product of history but was also linked to biological changes at the time.
- Their work — which combines linguistics, speech science and paleoanthropology — was published in the journal Science.
More in news
- Explanation for use of language in the study:(1) Language is not usually studied as a biological phenomenon and it does not figure in the curriculum of biology.(2) The Neolithic era — from 6,000 B.C. to 2,100 B.C. — was when wheat and barley-based farming took root and animals such as goats, sheep and cows were domesticated.
- Human before the Neolithic era:(1) Used his teeth quickly to chew the products of his hunting and gathering.(2) Upper incisors covered the lower ones in children, wear and tear led to an “edge-to-edge bite” in adults.(3) If one were to put the upper and lower incisors or “front teeth” directly on top of each other and try to say “f” or “v”, one would find it very difficult.(4) These sounds are called labiodental consonants, which require the combined action of the lower lip and the upper teeth.(5) There were chiefly types of gruel or porridge, stews and soups, but also daily products like milk, cheese and yoghurt that came about through food processing technologies that led to the softer diets
Source
The hindu