Protolenguaje musical
Comparación de la maternidad en las interacciones madre-hijo humanas y animales.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21932/epistemus.6.6115.2Keywords:
music protolanguage, motherese, language, biological constraints, vocal communicationAbstract
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the theory according to which the origin of the language is detectable in the continuity of morphological structures which influenced the use of vocalizations of prototypical music and language. According to the Darwinian Biolinguistics Hypothesis (Pennisi & Falzone 2016) , the acquisition of language implies that some of its elements are the result of clear biological constraints as well as natural ones, which have ensured its continuity. Assuming that the language has evolved on the basis of structures that allow vocalism, I will try to illustrate how the inception of a protolanguage is found in the very first forms of communication between mother and child amongst non-human primates (motherese). This special relationship is often marked by a form of simple communication, high intonation and singsong which ensure the continuation of the mother-child bond. Just like in the blabbering of babies, the prosodic unit produced during animal parental care is the result of a natural bond that determines which sound goes after another, apart from those physical restrictions that limit the production of speech sounds. The existence of forms of infant-direct speech in some primates (e.g. Macaca fuscata) suggests, in addition to the social function of the infant-specific vocalization and thanks to the melodic intonation and rhythmic signal, some information on the emotional condition of the speaker. These data suggest that there may be a continuum, in the ability to transmit information, that becomes particularly evident in some mother-child communication. Therefore, it can be assumed assume that spoken language may have developed first after the vocalizations used by the mother-child communication across non-human primates, and later by female hominids who interacted with their children.
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