Monday, April 18, 2011

single prehistoric African mother tongue

Write up on last weeks study with some data and a nice graphic.

* 500 languages traced back to Stone Age dialect
* The further away from Africa a language is spoken, the fewer distinct sounds it has
* English has around 46 sounds, while the San bushmen of South Africa use a staggering 200
* Study finds speech evolved 'at least 100,000 years ago'