Phonology and evolution

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter reviews the history of the interaction between theories of evolution and phonology. It starts by looking at very early work on the origins of speech and then proceeds to present the (absence of) influence of theories of sound change on Darwin’s thinking about biological change, as well as Darwin’s and other late 19th-century ideas about evolution of speech and language derived from their ideas on biological evolution. It then reviews the debate, which has lasted for about a century, on the influence of vocal tract anatomy on the sound systems that humans can use, and whether the vocal tract has played a crucial role in evolution. Finally, it reviews the more recent use of evolutionary theory for understanding cultural processes, and specifically those of phonological change and emergence of systems of signals.