This is a continuation of my email conversation with Jim Moore who poo-poo's the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis. I decided to post the video... well, because it fits with what I say ... and with what Elaine Morgan and what many experts have come to know. Before you continue, I'd like for you to consider the fact that throughout time, theories have come and gone... some are proven right over time and as more evidence surfaces, and some are proven wrong... again, as more evidence comes to light. Keep in mind that many of the theories have come from the very type of "expert" that Jim constantly refers to even when evidence to the contrary is brought to his attention... evidence that he is perfectly able to investigate himself... as we are able, without any instrument or technology... just by using the grey matter between our ears.
To read the other sections of this conversation read the following posts in this order and then you can follow along with our emails below :
So today's email
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Jim says:
Further:
"Sounds produced with the velum up, blocking the air from escaping through
the nose, are oral sounds, because the air can escape only through the oral cavity.
Most sounds in all languages are oral sounds. When the velum is not in
its raised position, air escapes through both the nose and the mouth. Sounds
produced this way are nasal sounds."
pg. 239
"Vowels, like consonants, can be produced with a raised velum that prevents the
air from escaping through the nose, or with a lowered velum that permits air to
pass through the nasal passage. When the nasal passage is blocked, oral vowels
result; when the nasal passage is open, nasal (or nasalized) vowels result."
pg. 249
An Introduction to Language, 9th edition
by
VICTORIA FROMKIN
ROBERT RODMAN
NINA HYAMS
2011
I'm sorry, but I'm going to go with professors of linguistics (and many others who know what they're talking about) rather than your wishes to not be wrong about something you thought up.
Regards,
Jim Moore
p.s. talking underwater is not "math".
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I Respond:
I reiterate:
As per my second email: When the velum is flexed so the passageway leading to the lungs from the nostrils is blocked, it impedes speech, for instance, try and make the letter "M" and "N" sounds... impossible!
As per the above, difficulties in forming "M" and "N" are more obvious, while impediments with forming other sounds are much more subtle. When speaking, the velum of a hearing person is never completely rigid-- it flexes very subly as we speak in ways that a person born deaf is unable to detect and therefor unable to master. When a doctor compresses your tongue and you then say "AAH", a very different sound occurs then when the "aah" sound is made during regular speech (that of a hearing person). This is due to subtle differences occurring with the velum: when saying "AAH" for the doctor, the velum is raised until completion, whereas when the "aah" sound is spoken ie: at the end of the name "Tatiana", the velum is released a moment before completion, hence a very subtle "h" sound passes through the nose and mouth simultaneously for that brief moment... an intricate moment that hearing people are able to detect. Virtually every word has subtle differences when spoken with the velum raised and held there versus how a hearing person normally speaks. Little nuances such as this are what separates the speech of hearing persons to that of persons born deaf. Hearing persons have the advantage of learning the intricacies involved in manipulating the velum at an early age... at an age that enables them to override the initial instinct to lift the velum when the mouth is open.
Persons born deaf have retained the instinct to raise the velum whenever the mouth is open to speak, hence they speak with an impediment. So the question then is why do we have this initial instinct? Even babies know how to hold their breath under water... they know how to block their velum... and so they can also scream under water if the need arises-- like to remind mama when it's time to go back up for air. Hey, perhaps THAT'S the real issue-- some people can't handle the fact that our very genetics give evidence that "women" brought home the salmon long before men brought home the bacon. When foraging and fishing under water, the ability to scream a warning could potentially save the lives of anyone swimming near by and/or to frighten away aquatic creatures who would other wise pose a threat if any closer. Being able to swim and holding ones breath under water has benefits other than attaining a food source, ie: as a means of escaping predators while abiding adjacent to seashores, lakes and rivers.
If you doubt the effectiveness of an underwater scream, watch and listen to this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwv2Rq8c3G4
Persons born deaf speak consistently in a way that is unique to their group due to the tendency of raising the velum and keeping it there (obviously, as instinct dictates). They simply aren't able to pick up on the intricacies-- the subtle nuances involved in speech that hearing persons are able.
Do the simple math!! AAH by the way, that's a metaphor , and no, I don't mean to say that "AHH" is a metaphor... butt it could B 2.
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