LB033-034

LB33-34
I. INTRODUCTION
Although anatomy is a fascinating subject and its inclusion in a book such as the present one does not require any apologies, there is at the same time the danger of misunderstanding its role here. The anatomical description of man’s speech organs does not lead to insight into the origin of language (see Chapter Six) nor does it provide an explanation of man’s capacity for language. As biologists we cannot discern meaning or purpose of specific anatomical developments. Survival of the species, increase of efficiency in various respects, or group cohesiveness may very well be among the biasing principles of natural selection. However, any one of these “ends” might conceivably be achieved by an infinity of means. Why a given phylogeny went one particular way instead of any one of the multitude of theoretically possible other ways is in most instances unknown and speculation on this topic is frequently futile.
Anatomy is a descriptive science. The sounds of language are certainly intimately related to the morphology of the vocal tract. Thus, a description of man’s vocal tract may account for certain peculiarities of universal features of speech. A discussion of these relationships does not imply knowledge of causality in the course of evolution.

Our approach will be based on comparative studies. We should like to demonstrate morphological peculiarities of man by comparing all speech-relevant structures to homologous ones in Pongidae (that is, the great apes: chimpanzee and gorilla, which are our closest of kin, and orangutan). Whenever available, we shall also make reference to the gibbons, rounding out the picture of the Hominoidea.

A review of the pertinent literature brings to light rather unexpected gaps in our knowledge of primate anatomy. In many instances, a complete comparison is not possible because of lack of data; in other instances, the facts reported are based on dissections of a single specimen so that artifacts of fixation, age, sex, and individual variations are uncontrolled variables. The presentation, however, has been confined to the most outstanding and generally agreed upon facts.

The anatomical discussions lay no claim to completeness and cannot substitute as a text for instruction on the anatomy of speech organs.(Kaplan, 1960 may be used for the purpose.)