Summary: A recent study compared vocal expressions of emotion across 131 language, looking for differences in emotional witticisms and contrasting them with non-linguistic sounds like shouts and laughter. The study sought to understand whether shared speech patterns can be found anywhere in the world and whether they are related to vocal communication as a result of our evolution.
The group found that vocal expressions of pain, like” Ouch”!, showed constant word forms across language, while contempt and delight did not. This knowledge might help us understand why humans developed talk while other monkeys did not. Expanding this research to include more cultures and emotions might lead to stronger connections between emotive language and manifestation.
Important Information:
- Pain-related witticisms, like” Ouch”!, share comparable word trends across cultures.
- Joyful and horrified appears lacked consistent designs, contrasting with non-linguistic vocalizations.
- This study provides information on the history of human speech development.
Origin: American Institute of Physics
There are an estimated 7, 000 languages spoken abroad, each offering unique ways to express animal emotion. Do some sensations ‘ vocal expressions vary across cultures, though?
In JASA, published on behalf of the Acoustical Society of America by AIP Publishing, an interdisciplinary team of scientists and bioacousticians led by Maïa Ponsonnet, Katarzyna Pisanski, and Christophe Coupé explored this by comparing expressive retorts ( like “wow”! ) to non-verbal shouts and cries all over the world.
Pisanski explained how studying shouts, screams, and laugh you shed light on the causes of conversation.
” Why did we humans start to speak, and other primates did n’t? We all produce laughing, and hundreds of varieties produce playlike noises”, said Ponsonnet.
” We are the only types with spoken language,” the statement goes. Understanding where and how people diverged from one another can be aided by looking at these commonalities across types.
” Thoroughly, by comparing retorts to noises expressing the similar emotions, we is check whether the sound patterns we observe in interjections may be traced back to vocalizations.”
The researchers analyzed vowels in witticisms from 131 language, comparing them with nearly 500 consonants from noises produced in cheerful, unpleasant, or disgusting settings.
They predicted that the sound forms of the vocalizations reflect their cultural or adaptive roles.
We think that some vocal emotions serve a purpose. For instance, babies ‘ cries tend to be quiet and tough, evolving to disturb parents much to stop the aversive signal. We expect outspoken expressions of anguish, contempt, and joy to reveal their functions to,” said Pisanski.
The scientists discovered vocalizations that matched each of the three feelings in terms of word signatures that remained constant and unique throughout different cultures.
Pain witticisms even featured similar available vowels, for as” a,” and broad falling syllables, for as” ai “in” Ayyy! “and” aw “in” Phew!”
But, for disgusted and pleasant thoughts, in contrast to noises, the witticisms lacked regularities across cultures. This latter getting piqued the researchers ‘ wonder.
The group hopes to expand this study to include more people’s voices and nations, as well as places of origin.
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Author: Hannah Daniel
Source: American Institute of Physics
Contact: Hannah Daniel – American Institute of Physics
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Start exposure.
Vowel names in personal interjections and nonlinguistic vocalizations by Maa Ponsonnet and as. JASA
Abstract
Vowel names in nonlinguistic and personal interjections that convey problems, disdain, and joy in different languages.
In this comparative cross-linguistic study we test whether expressive interjections ( words like , ouch , or , yay ) share similar vowel signatures across the world’s languages, and whether these can be traced back to nonlinguistic vocalizations ( like screams and cries ) expressing the same emotions of pain, disgust, and joy.
We compare the formant frequency measurements from voice recordings of effortful nonlinguistic noises to nearly 500 vowels in witticisms from definitions of 131 dialects ( more than 600 tokens ).
We show that across the globe, problems witticisms feature a-like syllables and broad falling syllables (” ai” as in , Ayyy!  ” ,aw” as in , Ouch! ), whereas interjections for contempt and delight do not exhibit strong vowel regularities that can travel far.
In nonlinguistic vocalizations, all emotions yield different vowel signatures: pain prompts available vowels for as]a], disgust schwa-like key vowels, and joy front vowels like as]I].
Our findings demonstrate that the only affective experience to have a clear, robust vowel signature that can be distinguished between nonlinguistic vocalizations and interjections across languages is pain. These findings provide empirical proof that some expressive phrases are iconic.
We consider potential mechanisms and origins, from evolutionary pressures and sound symbolism to colexification, proposing testable hypotheses for future research.
