A new study published in the journalPLOS ONEreveals that it existsa link between the geographical altitude of a place and the way its inhabitants speak. Specifically, populations living in higher regions often speak languages in whichejective consonants predominate, that is, they occur when a sudden opening of the glottis expels previously accumulated air. There are ejection consonants in 20% of the world’s languages, including Zulu. And 87% of the languages with this type of consonant are in the highest areas of the continents, located above 1,500 meters above sea level.
On the other hand, the study reveals the higher the altitude increases above sea level, the more likely it is that the consonants are pronounced by emitting a strong jet of air.“Geography influences phonology”, concludes the anthropologist Caleb Everett, from the University of Miami (USA), who has found evidence of this in the North American mountain range, the Andes, the African rift and the Ethiopian highlands, as well as in the Caucasus mountains.
“The ejection consonants are produced by creating a pocket of compressed air in the pharynx by the double closure of the mouth and the glottis, which is then expelled,” says Everett. Since air pressure drops with altitude and it takes less work to compress air, the researcher speculates “thatit is easier to produce these sounds above 1,500 meters above sea level“In addition, the study emphasizes that it must be taken into account that these sounds are generated with a mechanism ofnon-pulmonary joint. And that this reduces the amount of air exhaled through the lungs, and prevents dehydration in high areas of the planet.
