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A Comparative Approach to the Non-Human Primate Vocal Tract: Implications for Sound Production

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Current Topics in Primate Vocal Communication

Abstract

Despite the fact that it is the vocal tract morphology what ultimately shapes the acoustic structure of the sounds used in vocal communication (see Lieberman, 1984), recent state-of-the-art publications on the subject of non-human primate communication have not been concerned with that morphology (e.g., Snowdon, Brown, and Petersen, 1982; Todt, Goedeking, and Symmes, 1988). To help fill the gap thus left in our comprehension of the biological bases of vocal communication in non-human primates, this chapter reviews current knowledge pertaining to the comparative and functional morphology of non-human primate vocal tract features that, because of their shape, structure, and location, can influence sound structure. Conceptually, the chapter is based on (1) known relationships among the human vocal tract anatomy, the movements of its walls, air flow patterns, and the production of speech sounds (see Lieberman and Blumstein, 1988; Pickett, 1980); (2) Hirano’s structural model for vocal fold vibrator capabilities (Hirano, 1974, 1991; Gray et al., 1993); (3) the source-filter theory of speech production as summarized by Lieberman and Blumstein (1988).

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  1. Department of Anatomy School of Medicine, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00936-5067, USA

    Miguel A. Schön Ybarra

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  1. Miguel A. Schön Ybarra
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  1. German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany

    Elke Zimmermann  & Uwe Jürgens  & 

  2. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Poolesville, Maryland, USA

    John D. Newman

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Ybarra, M.A.S. (1995). A Comparative Approach to the Non-Human Primate Vocal Tract: Implications for Sound Production. In: Zimmermann, E., Newman, J.D., Jürgens, U. (eds) Current Topics in Primate Vocal Communication. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9930-9_9

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