The Multiple Dimensions of Language Sound Systems: Contribution of African and Amerindian Languages

This paper highlights the contribution of African and South American languages to theknowledge of the mechanisms of speech production and perception. It also reviews some of the dimensionsthat are involved in answering the questions raised by research on the structure and workingmechanisms of human speech. These questions are dealt with by examining the production and perceptionof clicks in Hadza and the nature of vowel systems in two South American languages, Karitianaand Nasa Yuwe.