The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-24

Broca is our authority for the belief
that the prime distinction in the cal
varium, which stamps man above the
highest of the animals, lies in the more
finely sculptured facies of the cortex
of the third frontal convolution, the
centre Of speech. 1t is open TO doubt
whether this detail il the cause Of Ian
guage equipment or is the result Of the
differentiation of speech possibilities. At
most we incline to the view chat as
long ages of vocalization of the breath
have brought that form of expression
under control of mental processes just
in that proportion the aCtivation Of that
region of the brain Cortex has resulted
in the leaving of traces of the effort in
the convolutions. and this finer scup-
ture has made each next step toward
speech somewhat easier
Researches into speech evolution
which have been conducted since the
time of Broca show that we are to find
no sharply drawn line of demarcation
between the cry of the animal and the
mumbling speech of early man. A
group OF primitive speech is now under
such discussion as will make it possible
to follow out the various steps Of prog
ress. Briefly, the distinction is this
the animal employs the vibration of the
column of air between the lungs and the
lips to produce a physical satisfaction
or tn communicate eNteriorly to himself
certain broadly conceived ideas. This
seniority of vibration is accomplished
by an unstopped tube; the sounds are
purely VuCaliC. AS the slightly superior
animal beginning man shows the ability
to- subject the vibrant column Of air to
stops or closures through intellectually
controlled muscular action, therefore,
man may employ ConsonantS. As an
animal he is capable Of vowels: as a
man he modulates the vocalic cry
through Consonants formed in the varI-
Gus regions Of the mouth. We are able
To- trace the genesis Of the several con-
sonlnts. to discover which have first
come under intelligent control to fol-
low out in an interesting series the
gradual acquisition Of one after the
other until we arrive at the stage Of the
higher culture when we employ the lip
closures with beautiful precision as the
final acquisition of orthoepy.
The speech Of the Australian aho-
riginals is yet on the primitive plane
of phonetics. its Vowels are scantily
precise in their sense differentiation,
their Consonlnts are few and most fire.
quent in the palatal area, rlrer and
less precise as the formation advances
forward in the mouth in the dental and
labril regions. The difficulty Of record
which this entails is instanced ~
Spencer: 1T Is, for example quite inn
possible. very often, To say whether in
any word a particular Cunsonant should
he written as X or Z. b or p. or t. rs
the case may be: or whether among
the vowels "A word should he spelled with
short or Il. The word Arunta can
with equal correctness. be spelt Arunta
Arunda, Aranta or Amanda. in all OF
which ways il is pronounced by natives
in different parts"
! Prof. Spencer presents in an interest
| Ing appendix vocabularics of two tribes
| the kakadu Of the mainland and the
Melville Islanders, Immediately off shore
| These total about 400 VoCableS. eaCl
| representing a single object Of cogni'
| ton, The sum agrees with the careful
4 count made by the present reviewer 81
| the speech of a tribe in the interior a
7 the continent as amounting to some 6O'
/ Vocables, an estimate which has beer
| confirmed more or less closely 10y Othe
| investigators. II may safely be esti
! ma; a ;ha: az average % .tus!:a!!2'
! languages shows the possession of les
than a thousand distinct objects OF cog
milton. We have to observe that tn
| vocabulary tends to overrun the object
of cognitiOn. for there is not incon
siderable element Of the speech whicl
is at present meaningless, names use'
| IN the ceremonies OF initiation and othe
solemn rites Of life phrases constant!
| recurring in songs and incarnation for
muaS The frequency OF this forgotten
element in speech is used as one of tn
arguments tending To show that tn
| Australians are IN a state Of deCadenc
from a slightly better estate. This ar
gument receives additional support fror
the precision Of the complicated system
of the personal pronouns ana the intri
cate agG,utinatIOn of the verb forms {
express manner and attendant Circum
stances BY way of comparison We ma
set the fact that in the islands Of Mela
nesia, on a culture plane but brieh
superior to that of the Australians, vo
Cabularies amounting 20 10000 entire
, have been collected without eXhaustin
even the common speech. Except f.
the forgotten element just mentioned,
, / is proper to say that the vocabulary {
any people cannot greatly overrun IN
mental equipment Of the people. Ac
/ cordingly we have here a Gear note &
the paucity of aboriginal ideas, and
this we see the lowness of the gener;
type of mentality
In comment upon an earlier work
, these Australian studies attention wa