Humans Use Mostly Consonants To Identify Words

ABOUT US

Young children "screaming" has a constant sound about it.

Trieste, Italy (UPI) Jul 12, 2005
A recent study indicates humans use mostly consonant sounds to identify words within the flow of speech.

The study by researchers at the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italy, indicates speech elicits a series of representations, such as syllables, vowels, or consonants, which our brains identify as such from the very early onset of language acquisition.

The researchers said consonants serve mainly to distinguish among words, whereas vowels tend to carry grammatical information.

"Other scientists conjectured it could be possible to learn a language simply using the incredible statistical capacities of the brain," said Luca Bonatti, one of the researchers. "Instead, in our work, we studied which computational limits language imposes to this system for statistical calculus."

The theory works only within linguistic systems. Living organisms, such as non-human primates, who do not have language, seem to ignore consonants completely because they cannot consider them as having linguistic import and treat them as simple noise, thereby disregarding them entirely, Bonatti said.

The research appears in the June issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the American Psychological Society.

ABOUT US

Scientists Find Clues To Memory Health

San Francisco, (UPI) July 12, 2005 -
Misplaced keys, faltering name recall, incomplete thoughts -- by age 50, many otherwise healthy adults begin to notice these insidious symptoms, all signs of short-term memory loss. Indeed, as we age, our memory function can decline by as much as 45 percent, researchers have found.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT Ultra-Wide-Band Research Poised To Save Lives In Rescue, Combat MESA Network May Boost Homeland Security Britain To Press For Disaster Response Fund At UN Summit: Minister Tsunami Aid Across Asia Failing To Get To Those Worst-Affected	CLIMATE SCIENCE Catastrophic Sand Avalanches, Sea Level Changes Found In Gulf Of Mexico G8 Summit Could Reach Agreement On Climate Change: Report Bush Wants Action Against Global Warming At G8 But Kyoto Still No-Go Global Warming To Be More Extreme In Some Areas Than Others
EARTH OBSERVATION Vietnam Buys EADS Satellite-based Environment and Resource Monitoring Solution Simulation Investigates Method To Improve Prediction Of Global Pollution NASA Offers A Real-Time 3-D Look At The Inside Of Hurricanes Envisat Captures The Great Barrier Reef From Space	ENERGY TECH Turkey Condemned For Failing To Close Polluting Power Stations Oil Prices Surge Back Above $60 On New Hurricane Fears BP Says 'Thunder Horse' Oil Platform Listing After Hurricane Dennis Oil Prices Drop As US Rigs Escape Hurricane
EPIDEMICS Bill Clinton To Push AIDS Initiative On Africa Tour Muslim Nations Face AIDS Reality Health Wrap: Bad Week For Antibiotics AIDS Fight Will Cost 22 Billion Dollars By 2008, UN Says	FLORA AND FAUNA Understanding The Meaning Of "Nothing" World's Oldest Panda On Road To Recovery Did humans Cause Ecosystem Collapse In Ancient Australia? Sri Lanka Finds 35 New Amphibian Species, But Shrinking Habitat A Threat
FROTH AND BUBBLE	ABOUT US Scientists Find Clues To Memory Health Humans Use Mostly Consonants To Identify Words Scientists Find Clues To Memory Health The Driving Doctor: Diminishing Returns

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement