The special nature of Australian phonologies: Why auditory constraints on the sound systems of human languages are not universal

Abstract

The phonological systems of human languages are constrained by what are often assumed to be universal properties of human auditory perception. However, the atypical phonologies found in many hearing-impaired speakers indicate that such constraints also operate at an individual level. The phonology of a child with chronic otitis media, for example, may lack a voicing distinction or sometimes have no fricatives. So, if a large group of speakers in a speech community operates with an atypical auditory system over many generations, then the phonology of the language(s) spoken by such a community might also over time be influenced by the particular properties of that common auditory system. Over half of the Australian Aboriginal population develop chronic otitis media with effusion in infancy and 50–70% of Aboriginal children have a significant hearing loss at both ends of the frequency range. Most Australian languages have phonologies which are atypical in world terms, having no voicing distinction and no fricatives or affricates, but an unusually large number of places of articulation. Acoustically, the sound systems of Australian languages appear to be a very good match for the hearing profiles of large numbers of their speakers. This paper reviews the evidence for a connection.