Our environment and climate can change the way we speak

There are many factors that influence our languages ​​and accents: where we live, where we grew up, what our parents sounded like. But in recent years, researchers have explored another possible influence: climate.

The idea that climate influences language is not new, but only recently have researchers acquired the tools to properly investigate the hypothesis. Now large databases of languages ​​from around the world, coupled with the computing power to look for patterns in those languages ​​and match them with climate data, make it possible to see whether climate affects language and, if so, how.

How the environment influences language

Caleb Everettan anthropologist who studies language across the world’s cultures says that linguists generally agree that there is a preference in languages ​​for what experts call “ease of articulation.” In other words, we tend to use sounds that are easy to make. But what is easy to make may depend on environmental conditions. Some sounds are more difficult to make when the vocal cords are very dry. (That’s why singers are careful not to let their vocal cords dry out, he points out.)

In a 2017 paper, Everett and colleagues thousands of languages ​​analyzed from two databases and found support for the idea that languages ​​in very dry places are less dependent on vowels than languages ​​in humid areas.

More recently, 2023 research analyzed data from more than 1,000 languages ​​and found that Languages ​​in warm areas relied more on vowelsand those in humid areas used more complex tonal sounds. Meanwhile, languages ​​spoken at higher altitudes used more ejective consonants. These are small explosions made when the vocal folds are closed, he explains Ian Maddiesonlinguist and senior author of the 2023 paper.

Forest cover also plays a role. Much of the inspiration for this work came from studies of birdsong, says Maddieson. One of the variables that predict the complexity of birdsong is the relative complexity of the local vegetation, he explains.

“If there is an area with a lot of obstructive plants, the song is simplified because transmission through that type of environment is less effective and will disrupt a complex song with a lot of vibrations and changes,” says Maddieson. In dense vegetation and high humidity, simple is more effective.

Read more: Language evolves over time and islands can promote language diversity

Human migration and the evolution of language

However, the mobility of people over the past 50 to 100 years means that other factors could soon drown out the effect of climate, says Maddieson. Once again, birds offer an interesting parallel. When birds enter an urban area with a lot of background noise, they have to change their songs to be heard above the noise of the city. They simplify the song so that it is less masked by the sound, or they sing at a higher pitch to be heard above the traffic noise.

And like birdsong, human language changes when people with many different languages ​​live in one location and try to make themselves understood.

“People coming together from different language backgrounds and coming to some kind of compromise between the input from the different languages ​​can have such a strong impact on the future of so many languages ​​that it can be very difficult to detect the other types of effects, such as those of the climate,” says Maddieson.

Read more: When did humans develop language?

Will climate change change our votes?

Does the fact that the climate is changing mean that human speech will change in response? Possibly. Maddieson estimates that it could take 300 to 500 years for vocal adaptations to climate to become part of a language. That means that after 300 or 400 years of climate change, speech patterns around the world could be noticeably different.

If these theories are correct, Maddieson says, fundamental changes in environmental conditions will impact languages ​​over time.

However, he adds: “If the planet continues to warm as much as it is now, large parts of the world will no longer have people.”

Read more: A new look at our linguistic roots

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Avery Hurt is a freelance science journalist. In addition to writing for Discover, she regularly writes for a variety of media, both print and online, including National Geographic, Science News Explores, Medscape and WebMD. She is the author of Bullet With Your Name on It: What You Will Likely Die From and What You Can Do About It, Clerisy Press 2007, as well as several books for young readers. Avery got her start in journalism when she attended college, where she wrote for the school newspaper and edited the student nonfiction magazine. Although she writes about all areas of science, she is particularly interested in neuroscience, the science of consciousness, and the AI ​​interests she developed while pursuing a degree in philosophy.