ABSTRACT

My review paper will discuss the evolution of song

and dance in humans. Research of this topic has
connected song and dance with the creation of
human consciousness which leads to culture and
interaction. The moving pattern can e
associated with survival instinct! "inship! and
meaning. #n my paper # want to discuss certain
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The Connections: Part I
Before we can egin to understand the overall picture of the evolution and origins
of human song and dance! we first have to understand the connections and detail of the
parts that ma"e up the pieces of the pu%%le. &e must first rea" down the significant
differences etween terminologies and weave together the evolution of the human mind
and ody with the development of language and development of song and dance in
early humans.
Voice, Speech, Language: Whats The Difference?
'(#C)
According to the article What Is Voice? What Is Speech? What Is Language?
2002! voice! also "nown as vocali%ation! is the sound produced y humans. (ther
verterates also produce sounds as well although different from those that humans
ma"e. Sounds are produced using the lungs and the vocal folds in the laryn*! also
"nown as the voice o*. These sounds are not always produced as speech although
the process that generates vocali%ation leads to the development of speech.
'ocali%ation is generated y airflow to the lungs through the vocal folds. As air pushes
through the vocal folds with enough pressure! the vocal folds virate to create sound. #f
vocal folds did not virate at normal levels! speech as an outcome would come out as a
whisper.
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Speech is produced y muscle coordination actions in the head! nec"! chest and
adomen. ,umans would use speech to e*press thoughts! feelings! and ideas out loud.
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.eveloping speech is a process that re/uires years of practice. Children would learn to
develop speech y learning how to regulate the appropriate muscles and eventually
produce understandale speech.
0A123A2)
0anguage is a form of human communication. 0anguage is ased on
systematic! conventionally used signs! sounds! gestures! or mar"s that convey
understood meanings within a group or community. 4&hat #s 'oice5 &hat #s Speech5
&hat #s 0anguage5 $66$7
How It Works: Voca !nato"#
The laryn* is located in the anterior part
of the nec" and aove the trachea 48igure 97.
The laryn* is composed of - large! unpaired
cartilages: cricoid! thyroid! and the epiglottis.
The hyoid one! although technically not part of
the laryn*! aids in laryngeal motion y providing
muscular attachments from aove.
The laryn* functions similar to a valve. #t
opens and closes to let air pass. &hen it is
closed! food can pass through to the esophagus
without going to the lungs. ,umans have another use for the valve however! and that is
y shaping sounds created y passing air. The sounds that involves viration of the
vocal folds of the laryn* travels up through the vocal tract. There! the oral and nasal
8igure 9
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man<nec"<lateral<color=6$.gif
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cavities act as a filter that passes acoustic energy at different fre/uencies. The sound
that is then passed through the lips is the result of this process.
The Descent of the Lar#n$
(ne of the iggest differences in
vocal anatomy of humans and
nonhuman primates is the
descended position of the laryn* in
the human vocal tract 48igure $7.
There are two<tues in the vocal
tract in humans! one is the normal
oral cavity that is common in all primates and the other is an enlarged pharyngeal cavity
that is seen only in humans. This structure is accompanied y the aility for humans to
move their mandiles and lips rapidly allows for humans to produce articulated speech.
,umans are orn with the laryn* in
the ?normal? location li"e other nonhuman
primates 48igure -7. This allows for aies
to nurse without cho"ing. At aout - months
the laryn* gradually egins to descend and
reach its final position at the age of > years
old. The descended laryn* allows for a
range of sounds 4vowels in particular7 in humans compared to the limited sounds that
apes can produce. Adult males go through a second descent of the laryn* which is
8igure $
2han%anfar @ Rendall $66A
8igure -
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characteri%ed y the deep voice that hits males after puerty. This change helps e*plain
the laryngeal prominence also "nown as the AdamEs apple.
The Connections: Part II
The research of the evolution of language has een lin"ed to vocal signals of
nonhuman primates and communicative gestures. The theory of gestures has een
studied in modern humans from infancy to adulthood. Before their development of
speech and language! children would use gestures to communicate. As adults! hand
gestures are oftentimes used to accompany their speech. The theory of ?gestural
origins? for the evolution of language suggests that gestures were followed y
pantomime which then opened the path for semantics and speech. Research states
that imitation was one of the early stages of this evolutionary topic. #mitation is defined
as the attempt to repeat oserved actions to achieve some goal with respect to an
oBect. +antomime is uilt on imitation! however differs in that the actions repeated are
not acted on an oBect ut rather acted as a way of communicating something aout a
certain action! oBect! or related event. 4Ari et al. $66A7
Studies on the ?human mirror system for
grasping has shown in rain imaging that part of
the rain is activated during the action of
grasping or oservation for grasping in and near
BrocaEs area. BrocaEs area is located in the
frontal loe of the left hemisphere of the rain that is associated with functions such as
speech production. These studies on the human mirror systems suggest that BrocaEs
8igure >
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area can possily e associated with the function of multimodal language production as
well! rather than Bust speech production alone.
As mentioned efore! humans use speech to e*press thoughts! feelings! and
ideas orally. (ne of the theories of the evolution of language is the idea that as the rain
ecame larger and more comple*! early hominids egan to create pattern associations
lin"ed to survival mechanisms. (ne such e*ample of association is religion. Some
researchers have thought that religion was a product of a survival mechanism or religion
itself was the mechanism. Although the association was not a reflection of any realities!
the act of rituals and religion that are lin"ed with the origins of dance are connected with
religious eliefs that were lin"ed to survival.
Studies on the origins of dance! apes and humans were oth studied y the
oservation of danceli"e ehavior. These ehaviors were categori%ed as: purposeful
4intentional! not accidental or involuntary7! intentionally rhythmical! culturally patterned
4learned ehavior! having meanings! values! and rules imposed y the group7! and
nonveral 4e*cluding ody movements associated with sound production7. The studies
suggests that the difference of oth species lie in the comple*ity of the each category.
Reasons for these ehaviors have een lin"ed to the therapeutic release of energy as
oserved in apes 48rancis 9FF97.
(n studies done y Gane 2oodall! apes were oserved to achieve therapeutic
release of energy y rituali%ed display. #n what 2oodall called the ?rain dance?! she
oserved chimpan%ees responding to a thunderstorm which involved hooting 4a high
pitched vocali%ation7! rhythmic movement from foot to foot! and swaying of tree
ranches! all in a repeated manner. This display was done y males with females and
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the young watching from the trees. Another oservational study done on apes was in an
event of territorial intrusion. 2orillas were oserved under this case and the display of
chest<eating along with other acts connected to the display were oserved. Such acts
were hooting 4a common act of e*citement in apes7! rising on hind legs! throwing
vegetation! "ic"ing! and hitting the ground with the palm of the hand. #n oth cases of
the intrusion event and the ?rain dance? the actions that too" place were more
?elaorate? for the tas" of either scaring off a trespasser or generally useless in nature!
the ritualistic displays fit the danceli"e ehavior categories. Along with ritualistic displays
through therapeutic release of energy! danceli"e ehavior is also found in mating rituals!
play activities! communication! and the maintenance of the social group 4onding7.
The evolved comple*ity in the rain from apes to early humans! has allowed our
early hominid ancestors to ta"e primal movements and used their evolved capailities to
produce material evidence in conBunction with cognitive comple*ity and e*pression.
)vidence of culture has een seen with these e*pressions as seen through the
development of tools! fire use! and communication. The aspect of song came along with
vocali%ation during dancing! although not necessarily understandale speech! much li"e
the actions of the apes during the rain dance! vocali%ation was another form of
ritualistic display that evolved with human e*pression of similar actions. Along with
these developments is the evidence of symolic representation of movements as seen
in cave paintings of dancing figures! which were used to depict their e*pression of
dance as a way to react to aspects of nature.
,uman e*pressions of similar displays of
imitative and repeated patterns of survival with the
8igure C
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connection of ritualistic ehaviors in a danceli"e manner have suggested that these
connections were the foundations of the origins of song and dance. There is still a lot of
deate on the topic of the evolution of language! and although evidence such as the
cave paintings and one flute have een found 48igure C7! there is very evidence of
fossil records on this topic. The origins of speech has een deated to range from
C6!666 years ago to almost 9.HC million years ago ased on current hypotheses.
,owever! since speech organs are unale to fossili%e it is hard to lin" what little material
evidence or artifacts are found with the earliest speech. ,owever! the theories of the
evolution of humans through song and dance are found to connect us to our primal
ancestors and e*plain the connection of the evolution of the conscious mind to the
development of social ehaviors that opened the pathway for the language
development.
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&or"s Cited
Ari! Michael A.! IatBa 0ieal! and Simone +i"a. ?+rimate 'ocali%ation! 2esture! and
the )volution of ,uman 0anguage.? Current Anthropology >F.D 4$66A7: 96C-<6HD.
+rint.
?Bone 8lute #s (ldest #nstrument! Study Says.? National Geographic. 1ational
2eographic Society! n.d. &e. 96 Apr. $69>.
8rancis! Sandra T. ?The (rigins of .ance: The +erspective of +rimate )volution.?
Dance Chronicle 9>.$;- 49FF97: $6-<$6. JST!. &e. $6 Apr. $69>.
Jhttp:;;www.Bstor.org;stale;96.$-6H;9CDHHC95refKsearch<
gateway:-CcHeH96d-aAeC-ffHdH>c9>c>A>e$cL.
2ha%anfar! Asif A.! and .rew Rendall. ?)volution of ,uman 'ocal +roduction.? Current
"iology 9A.99 4$66A7: R>CH<>D6. &e.
'ashishta! Rishi. ?0aryn* Anatomy .? Laryn# Anato$y. 2eorge &ashington 3niversity
School of Medicine and ,ealth Sciences! $9 Gune $69-. &e. Apr. $69>.
?&hat #s 'oice5 &hat #s Speech5 &hat #s 0anguage5? What Is Voice? What Is
Speech? What Is Language? 1#.C. #nformation Clearinghouse! (ct. $66$.
&e. Apr. $69>.