The one that dominates the Internet, the ones we learn in the womb, and the ones that are whistles
by Dean Christopher
From the November 2010 issue; published online January 21, 2011
1 The voice box sits lower in the throat in humans than it does in other primates, giving us a uniquely large resonating system. That’s why we alone are able to make the wide range of sounds needed for speech
2 That also explains Mariah Carey, Barry White, and Robin Williams.
3 Unfortunately, the placement of our voice box means we can’t breathe and swallow at the same time, as other animals can (choke).
4 Fortunately, the human voice box doesn’t drop until about 9 months, which allows infants to breathe while nursing.
5 Still the one: Mandarin is the long-standing champ among world languages with 845 million native speakers, about 2.5 times as many as English.
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