Speech repetition

Vocal imitation happens quickly: words can be repeated within 250-300 milliseconds{{Cite journal | last1 = Indefrey | first1 = P. | last2 = Levelt | first2 = W. J. M. | doi = 10.1016/j.cognition.2002.06.001 | title = The spatial and temporal signatures of word production components | journal = Cognition | volume = 92 | issue = 1–2 | pages = 101–144 | year = 2004 | pmid = 15037128| citeseerx = 10.1.1.475.251 | s2cid = 12662702 }} both in normals (during speech shadowing){{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1038/244522a0

| last1 = Marslen-Wilson | first1 = W.

| title = Linguistic structure and speech shadowing at very short latencies

| journal = Nature

| volume = 244

| issue = 5417

| pages = 522–523

| year = 1973

| pmid = 4621131

| bibcode = 1973Natur.244..522M | s2cid = 4220775 }} and during echolalia. The imitation of speech syllables possibly happens even more quickly: people begin imitating the second phone in the syllable [ao] earlier than they can identify it (out of the set [ao], [aæ] and [ai]).{{Cite journal

| last1 = Porter Jr | first1 = R. J.

| last2 = Lubker | first2 = J. F.

| title = Rapid reproduction of vowel-vowel sequences: Evidence for a fast and direct acoustic-motoric linkage in speech

| journal = Journal of Speech and Hearing Research

| volume = 23

| issue = 3

| pages = 593–602

| year = 1980

| pmid = 7421161

| doi=10.1044/jshr.2303.593

}} Indeed, "...simply executing a shift to [o] upon detection of a second vowel in [ao] takes very little longer than does interpreting and executing it as a shadowed response". Neurobiologically this suggests "...that the early phases of speech analysis yield information which is directly convertible to information required for speech production". Vocal repetition can be done immediately as in speech shadowing and echolalia. It can also be done after the pattern of pronunciation is stored in short-term memory or long-term memory. It automatically uses both auditory and where available visual information about how a word is produced.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Gentilucci | first1 = M.

| last2 = Cattaneo | first2 = L.

| doi = 10.1007/s00221-005-0008-z

| title = Automatic audiovisual integration in speech perception

| journal = Experimental Brain Research

| volume = 167

| issue = 1

| pages = 66–75

| year = 2005

| pmid = 16034571

| s2cid = 20166301

}}{{Cite journal

| title = Acute hepatitis B virus infection in children and teachers, England and Wales 1985-90

| journal = Communicable Disease Report

| volume = 1

| issue = 17

| pages = 75–76

| year = 1991

| pmid = 1669805

}}

The automatic nature of speech repetition was noted by Carl Wernicke, the late nineteenth century neurologist, who observed that "The primary speech movements, enacted before the development of consciousness, are reflexive and mimicking in nature..".Wernicke K. The aphasia symptom-complex. 1874. Breslau, Cohn and Weigert. Translated in: Eling P, editor. Reader in the history of aphasia. Vol. 4. Amsterdam: John Benjamins; 1994. p. 69–89. {{ISBN|978-90-272-1893-3}}

Vocal imitation arises in development before speech comprehension and also babbling: 18-week-old infants spontaneously copy vocal expressions provided the accompanying voice matches.{{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1126/science.7146899

| last1 = Kuhl | first1 = P. K.

| last2 = Meltzoff | first2 = A. N.

| title = The bimodal perception of speech in infancy

| journal = Science

| volume = 218

| issue = 4577

| pages = 1138–1141

| year = 1982

| pmid = 7146899

| bibcode = 1982Sci...218.1138K }} Imitation of vowels has been found as young as 12 weeks.{{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1121/1.417951

| last1 = Kuhl | first1 = P. K.

| last2 = Meltzoff | first2 = A. N.

| title = Infant vocalizations in response to speech: Vocal imitation and developmental change

| journal = The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

| volume = 100

| issue = 4 Pt 1

| pages = 2425–2438

| year = 1996

| pmid = 8865648

| pmc = 3651031

| bibcode = 1996ASAJ..100.2425K }} It is independent of native language, language skills, word comprehension and a speaker's intelligence. Many autistic and some mentally disabled people engage in the echolalia of overheard words (often their only vocal interaction with others) without understanding what they echo.{{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1007/BF02211846

| last1 = Roberts | first1 = J. M.

| title = Echolalia and comprehension in autistic children

| journal = Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

| volume = 19

| issue = 2

| pages = 271–281

| year = 1989

| pmid = 2745392

| s2cid = 6925526 }}{{cite journal | last1 = Schneider | first1 = DE | year = 1938 | title = The clinical syndromes of echolalia, echopraxia, grasping and sucking | journal = Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease | volume = 88 | pages = 18–35, 200–216 | doi = 10.1097/00005053-193807000-00003 | s2cid = 143703500 }}{{cite journal|pmid=390245 |year=1979 |last1=Schuler |first1=A. L. |title=Echolalia: Issues and clinical applications |journal=The Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=411–34 |doi=10.1044/jshd.4404.411}}{{Cite journal | last1 = Stengel | first1 = E. | title = A Clinical and Psychological Study of Echo-Reactions | doi = 10.1192/bjp.93.392.598 | journal = The British Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 93 | issue = 392 | pages = 598–612 | year = 1947 | pmid = 20273402}} Reflex uncontrolled echoing of others words and sentences occurs in roughly half of those with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Lees | first1 = A. J.

| last2 = Robertson | first2 = M.

| last3 = Trimble | first3 = M. R.

| last4 = Murray | first4 = N. M.

| title = A clinical study of Gilles de la Tourette syndrome in the United Kingdom

| journal = Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry

| volume = 47

| issue = 1

| pages = 1–8

| year = 1984

| pmid = 6582230

| pmc = 1027633 | doi=10.1136/jnnp.47.1.1

}} The ability to repeat words without comprehension also occurs in mixed transcortical aphasia where it links to the sparing of the short-term phonological store.{{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1016/0028-3932(88)90120-0

| last1 = Trojano | first1 = L.

| last2 = Fragassi | first2 = N. A.

| last3 = Postiglione | first3 = A.

| last4 = Grossi | first4 = D.

| title = Mixed transcortical aphasia. On relative sparing of phonological short-term store in a case

| journal = Neuropsychologia

| volume = 26

| issue = 4

| pages = 633–638

| year = 1988

| pmid = 2457182

| s2cid = 35115074 }}

The ability to repeat and imitate speech sounds occurs separately to that of normal speech. Speech shadowing provides evidence of a 'privileged' input/output speech loop that is distinct to the other components of the speech system.McLeod P. Posner MI. (1984). Privileged loops from percept to act. In H. Bouma D. Bouwhuis, (Eds), Attention and performance X (pp. 55-66). Hillsdale, NJ, Erlbaum. {{ISBN|978-0-86377-005-0}} Neurocognitive research likewise finds evidence of a direct (nonlexical) link between phonological analysis input and motor programming output.{{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1016/0093-934X(87)90133-7

| last1 = Coslett | first1 = H. B.

| last2 = Roeltgen | first2 = D. P.

| last3 = Gonzalez Rothi | first3 = L.

| last4 = Heilman | first4 = K. M.

| title = Transcortical sensory aphasia: Evidence for subtypes

| journal = Brain and Language

| volume = 32

| issue = 2

| pages = 362–378

| year = 1987

| pmid = 3690258

| s2cid = 6079313 }}{{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1093/brain/107.2.463

| last1 = McCarthy | first1 = R.

| last2 = Warrington | first2 = E. K.

| title = A two-route model of speech production. Evidence from aphasia

| journal = Brain: A Journal of Neurology

| volume = 107

| issue = 2

| pages = 463–485

| year = 1984

| pmid = 6722512

| doi-access = free

}}{{Cite journal

| last1 = McCarthy | first1 = R. A.

| last2 = Warrington | first2 = E. K.

| doi = 10.1093/neucas/7.1.77

| title = Repeating Without Semantics: Surface Dysphasia?

| journal = Neurocase

| volume = 7

| issue = 1

| pages = 77–87

| year = 2001

| pmid = 11239078

}}

Speech sounds can be imitatively mapped into vocal articulations in spite of vocal tract anatomy differences in size and shape due to gender, age and individual anatomical variability. Such variability is extensive making input output mapping of speech more complex than a simple mapping of vocal track movements. The shape of the mouth varies widely: dentists recognize three basic shapes of palate: trapezoid, ovoid, and triangular; six types of malocclusion between the two jaws; nine ways teeth relate to the dental arch and a wide range of maxillary and mandible deformities.Bloomer HH. (1971). Speech defects associated with dental malocclusions and related abnormalities. In L. E. (Eds), Handbook of speech pathology and audiology (pp. 715-766), New York, Appleton Century. {{ISBN|978-0-13-381764-5}} Vocal sound can also vary due to dental injury and dental caries. Other factors that do not impede the sensory motor mapping needed for vocal imitation are gross oral deformations such as hare-lips, cleft palates or amputations of the tongue tip, pipe smoking, pencil biting and teeth clinching (such as in ventriloquism). Paranasal sinuses vary between individuals 20-fold in volume, and differ in the presence and the degree of their asymmetry.Williams RJ. (1967). You are extra-ordinary. New York, Random House. pp. 26-27. {{OCLC|156187572}}Vocal traits also vary moreover when people get upper respiratory tract infections as the shape and size of sinus cavities is further changed with the swelling of mucous membranes.

Vocal imitation occurs potentially in regard to a diverse range of phonetic units and types of vocalization. The world's languages use consonantal phones that differ in thirteen imitable vocal tract place of articulations (from the lips to the glottis). These phones can potentially be pronounced with eleven types of imitable manner of articulations (nasal stops to lateral clicks). Speech can be copied in regard to its social accent, intonation, pitch and individuality (as with entertainment impersonators). Speech can be articulated in ways which diverge considerably in speed, timbre, pitch, loudness and emotion. Speech further exists in different forms such as song, verse, scream and whisper. Intelligible speech can be produced with pragmatic intonation and in regional dialects and foreign accents. These aspects are readily copied: people asked to repeat speech-like words imitate not only phones but also accurately other pronunciation aspects such as fundamental frequency,{{Cite journal | last1 = Kappes | first1 = J. | last2 = Baumgaertner | first2 = A. | last3 = Peschke | first3 = C. | last4 = Ziegler | first4 = W. | title = Unintended imitation in nonword repetition | doi = 10.1016/j.bandl.2009.08.008 | journal = Brain and Language | volume = 111 | issue = 3 | pages = 140–151 | year = 2009 | pmid = 19811813| s2cid = 2113790 }} schwa-syllable expression, voice spectra and lip kinematics,{{cite journal|pmid= 16698051|year= 2007|last1= Gentilucci|first1= M|title= Imitation during phoneme production|journal= Neuropsychologia|volume= 45|issue= 3|pages= 608–15|last2= Bernardis|first2= P|doi= 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.04.004|s2cid= 40687020}} voice onset times,{{Cite journal

| doi = 10.3758/BF03194890

| last1 = Shockley | first1 = K.

| last2 = Sabadini | first2 = L.

| last3 = Fowler | first3 = C. A.

| title = Imitation in shadowing words

| journal = Perception & Psychophysics

| volume = 66

| issue = 3

| pages = 422–429

| year = 2004

| pmid = 15283067

| doi-access = free

}} and regional accent.{{cite journal|pmid=17914281|year = 2007|last1 = Delvaux|first1 = V|title = The influence of ambient speech on adult speech productions through unintentional imitation|journal = Phonetica|volume = 64|issue = 2–3|pages = 145–73|last2 = Soquet|first2 = A|doi = 10.1159/000107914|s2cid = 22042824}}

In 1874 Carl Wernicke proposedWernicke K. (1874). The aphasia symptom-complex. Breslau, Cohn and Weigert. Translated in: Eling P, editor. (1994). p. 69–89.Reader in the history of aphasia. Vol. 4. Amsterdam: John Benjamins: "The major tasks of the child in speech acquisition is mimicry of the spoken word". p76 that the ability to imitate speech plays a key role in language acquisition. This is now a widely researched issue in child development.{{Cite journal | last1 = Bloom | first1 = L. | last2 = Hood | first2 = L. | last3 = Lightbown | first3 = P. | doi = 10.1016/0010-0285(74)90018-8 | title = Imitation in language development: If, when, and why | journal = Cognitive Psychology | volume = 6 | issue = 3 | pages = 380–420 | year = 1974 }}Miller GA. (1977). Spontaneous apprentices: Children and language. New York, Seabury Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8164-9330-2}}{{cite journal | last1 = Masur | first1 = EF | year = 1995 | title = Infants' early verbal imitation and their later lexical development | journal = Merrill-Palmer Quarterly | volume = 41 | pages = 286–306 |oclc=89395784}}{{cite journal | last1 = Gathercole | first1 = SE. Baddeley AD. | year = 1989 | title = Evaluation of the role of phonological STM in the development of vocabulary in children, A longitudinal study | url = http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=7251627 | journal = Journal of Memory and Language | volume = 28 | issue = 2 | pages = 200–213 | doi = 10.1016/0749-596x(89)90044-2 | access-date = 2009-12-19 | archive-date = 2012-08-17 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120817081022/http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=7251627 | url-status = dead | url-access = subscription }}{{Cite journal | last1 = Gathercole | first1 = S. E. | doi = 10.1017/S0142716406060383 | title = Nonword repetition and word learning: The nature of the relationship | journal = Applied Psycholinguistics | volume = 27 | issue = 4 | pages = 513–543 | year = 2006 | s2cid = 145633911 }} [http://www.york.ac.uk/res/wml/Gathercole06%20Applied%20PsyLinguistics.pdf PDF] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605222602/http://www.york.ac.uk/res/wml/Gathercole06%20Applied%20PsyLinguistics.pdf |date=2011-06-05 }} A study of 17,000 one and two word utterances made by six children between 18 months to 25 months found that, depending upon the particular infant, between 5% and 45% of their words might be mimicked. These figures are minima since they concern only immediately heard words. Many words that may seem spontaneous are in fact delayed imitations heard days or weeks previously. At 13 months children who imitate new words (but not ones they already know) show a greater increase in noun vocabulary at four months and non noun vocabulary at eight months. A major predictor of vocabulary increase in both 20 months,{{cite journal| pmid=18838017| year=2008| last1=Hoff| first1=E| title=Non-word repetition assesses phonological memory and is related to vocabulary development in 20- to 24-month-olds| journal=Journal of Child Language| volume=35| issue=4| pages=903–16| last2=Core| first2=C| last3=Bridges| first3=K| doi=10.1017/S0305000908008751| s2cid=18566002}} 24 months,{{cite journal|pmid=19017366|year = 2009|last1 = Stokes|first1 = S. F.|title = Factors that influence vocabulary development in two-year-old children|journal = Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry|volume = 50|issue = 4|pages = 498–505|last2 = Klee|first2 = T|doi = 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01991.x}} and older children between 4 and 8 years is their skill in repeating nonword phone sequences (a measure of mimicry and storage). This is also the case with children with Down's syndrome .{{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00224.x

| last1 = Laws | first1 = G.

| last2 = Gunn | first2 = D.

| title = Phonological memory as a predictor of language comprehension in Down syndrome: A five-year follow-up study

| journal = Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines

| volume = 45

| issue = 2

| pages = 326–337

| year = 2004

| pmid = 14982246

}} The effect is larger than even age: in a study of 222 two-year-old children that had spoken vocabularies ranging between 3–601 words the ability to repeat nonwords accounted for 24% of the variance compared to 15% for age and 6% for gender (girls better than boys).

Imitation provides the basis for making longer sentences than children could otherwise spontaneously make on their own.Speidel GE. Herreshoff MJ. (1989). Imitation and the construction of long utterances. In G. E. Speidel & K. E. Nelson, (Eds), The many faces of imitation in language learning (pp. 181-197). New York, Springer-Verlag. {{ISBN|978-0-387-96885-8}} Children analyze the linguistic rules, pronunciation patterns, and conversational pragmatics of speech by making monologues (often in crib talk) in which they repeat and manipulate in word play phrases and sentences previously overheard.Kuczaj SA. (1983). Crib speech and language practice. New York, Springer-Verlag. {{ISBN|978-0-387-90860-1}} Many proto-conversations involve children (and parents) repeating what each other has said in order to sustain social and linguistic interaction. It has been suggested that the conversion of speech sound into motor responses helps aid the vocal "alignment of interactions" by "coordinating the rhythm and melody of their speech".{{Cite journal

| last1 = Scott | first1 = S. K.

| last2 = McGettigan | first2 = C.

| last3 = Eisner | first3 = F.

| doi = 10.1038/nrn2603

| title = A little more conversation, a little less action — candidate roles for the motor cortex in speech perception

| journal = Nature Reviews Neuroscience

| volume = 10

| issue = 4

| pages = 295–302

| year = 2009

| pmid = 19277052

| pmc = 4238059

| hdl = 11858/00-001M-0000-0013-2999-F

}} p. 201 Repetition enables immigrant monolingual children to learn a second language by allowing them to take part in 'conversations'.Fillmore LW. (1979). Individual differences in second language acquisition. In C. J. Fillmore, D. Kempler & W. S-Y. Wang, (Eds), Individual differences in language ability and language behavior (pp. 203-228). New York, Academic Press. {{OCLC|4983571}} Imitation related processes aids the storage of overheard words by putting them into speech based short- and long-term memory.{{Cite journal

| doi = 10.3758/BF03210559

| last1 = Gathercole | first1 = S. E.

| title = Is nonword repetition a test of phonological memory or long-term knowledge? It all depends on the nonwords

| journal = Memory & Cognition

| volume = 23

| issue = 1

| pages = 83–94

| year = 1995

| pmid = 7885268

| s2cid = 20774241 }}

The ability to repeat nonwords predicts the ability to learn second-language vocabulary.{{cite journal | last1 = Cheng | first1 = H | year = 1996 | title = Nonword span as a unique predictor of second-language vocabulary learning | journal = Developmental Psychology | volume = 32 | issue = 5| pages = 867–873 | doi=10.1037/0012-1649.32.5.867}} A study found that adult polyglots performed better in short-term memory tasks such as repeating nonword vocalizations compared to nonpolyglots though both are otherwise similar in general intelligence, visuo-spatial short-term memory and paired-associate learning ability.{{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1080/14640749508401378

| last1 = Papagno | first1 = C.

| last2 = Vallar | first2 = G.

| title = Verbal short-term memory and vocabulary learning in polyglots

| journal = The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. A, Human Experimental Psychology

| volume = 48

| issue = 1

| pages = 98–107

| year = 1995

| pmid = 7754088

| s2cid = 19242688 }} Language delay in contrast links to impairments in vocal imitation.{{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1996.tb01420.x

| last1 = Bishop | first1 = D. V.

| last2 = North | first2 = T.

| last3 = Donlan | first3 = C.

| title = Nonword repetition as a behavioural marker for inherited language impairment: Evidence from a twin study

| journal = Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines

| volume = 37

| issue = 4

| pages = 391–403

| year = 1996

| pmid = 8735439

}}

Electrical brain stimulation research upon the human brain finds that 81% of areas that show disruption of phone identification are also those in which the imitating of oral movements is disrupted and vice versa;{{cite journal | last1 = Ojemann | first1 = GA | year = 1983 | title = Brain organization for language from the perspective of electrical stimulation mapping | journal = Behavioral and Brain Sciences | volume = 6 | issue = 2| pages = 189–230 | doi=10.1017/s0140525x00015491| s2cid = 143189089 }} Brain injuries in the speech areas show a 0.9 correlation between those causing impairments to the copying of oral movements and those impairing phone production and perception.{{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1016/0093-934X(89)90112-0

| last1 = Kimura | first1 = D.

| last2 = Watson | first2 = N.

| title = The relation between oral movement control and speech

| journal = Brain and Language

| volume = 37

| issue = 4

| pages = 565–590

| year = 1989

| pmid = 2479446

| s2cid = 39913744 }}

Spoken words are sequences of motor movements organized around vocal tract gesture motor targets.Shaffer LH. (1984). Motor programming in language production. In H. Bouma & D. G. Bouwhuis, (Eds), Attention and performance, X. pp. (17-41). London, Erlbaum. {{ISBN|978-0-86377-005-0}} Vocalization due to this is copied in terms of the motor goals that organize it rather than the exact movements with which it is produced. These vocal motor goals are auditory. According to James AbbsAbbs JH. (1986). Invariance and variability in speech production, A distinction between linguistic intent and its neuromotor implementation. In J. S. Perkell, & D. H. Klatt, (Eds), Invariance and variability in speech processes (pp. 202-219). Hillsdale, NJ, Erlbaum. {{ISBN|978-0-89859-545-1}} 'For speech motor actions, the individual articulatory movements would not appear to be controlled with regard to three- dimensional spatial targets, but rather with regard to their contribution to complex vocal tract goals such as resonance properties (e.g., shape, degree of constriction) and or aerodynamically significant variables'. Speech sounds also have duplicable higher-order characteristics such as rates and shape of modulations and rates and shape of frequency shifts.Porter RJ. (1987). What is the relation between speech production and speech perception? In: Allport A, MacKay D G, Prinz W G, Scheerer E, eds. Language Perception and Production. London: Academic Press,: 85-106. {{ISBN|978-0-12-052750-2}} Such complex auditory goals (which often link—though not always—to internal vocal gestures) are detectable from the speech sound which they create.

Two cortical processing streams exist: a ventral one which maps sound onto meaning, and a dorsal one, that maps sound onto motor representations. The dorsal stream projects from the posterior Sylvian fissure at the temporoparietal junction, onto frontal motor areas, and is not normally involved in speech perception.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Hickok | first1 = G.

| last2 = Poeppel | first2 = D.

| doi = 10.1016/j.cognition.2003.10.011

| title = Dorsal and ventral streams: A framework for understanding aspects of the functional anatomy of language

| journal = Cognition

| volume = 92

| issue = 1–2

| pages = 67–99

| year = 2004

| pmid = 15037127

| s2cid = 635860

}}

Carl Wernicke identified a pathway between the left posterior superior temporal sulcus (a cerebral cortex region sometimes called the Wernicke's area) as a centre of the sound "images" of speech and its syllables that connected through the arcuate fasciculus with part of the inferior frontal gyrus (sometimes called the Broca's area) responsible for their articulation. This pathway is now broadly identified as the dorsal speech pathway, one of the two pathways (together with the ventral pathway) that process speech.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Okada | first1 = K.

| last2 = Hickok | first2 = G.

| doi = 10.1016/j.bandl.2006.04.006

| title = Left posterior auditory-related cortices participate both in speech perception and speech production: Neural overlap revealed by fMRI

| journal = Brain and Language

| volume = 98

| issue = 1

| pages = 112–117

| year = 2006

| pmid = 16716388

| s2cid = 1056984

}} The posterior superior temporal gyrus is specialized for the transient representation of the phonetic sequences used for vocal repetition.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Wise | first1 = R. J.

| last2 = Scott | first2 = S. K.

| last3 = Blank | first3 = S. C.

| last4 = Mummery | first4 = C. J.

| last5 = Murphy | first5 = K.

| last6 = Warburton | first6 = E. A.

| title = Separate neural subsystems within 'Wernicke's area'

| journal = Brain: A Journal of Neurology

| volume = 124

| issue = Pt 1

| pages = 83–95

| year = 2001

| pmid = 11133789 | doi=10.1093/brain/124.1.83

| doi-access = free

}} Part of the auditory cortex also can represent aspects of speech such as its consonantal features.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Obleser | first1 = J.

| last2 = Scott | first2 = S. K.

| last3 = Eulitz | first3 = C.

| doi = 10.1093/cercor/bhj047

| title = Now You Hear It, Now You Don't: Transient Traces of Consonants and their Nonspeech Analogues in the Human Brain

| journal = Cerebral Cortex

| volume = 16

| issue = 8

| pages = 1069–1076

| year = 2005

| pmid = 16207930

| doi-access = free

}}

Mirror neurons have been identified that both process the perception and production of motor movements. This is done not in terms of their exact motor performance but an inference of the intended motor goals with which it is organized.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Umiltà | first1 = M. A.

| last2 = Kohler | first2 = E.

| last3 = Gallese | first3 = V.

| last4 = Fogassi | first4 = L.

| last5 = Fadiga | first5 = L.

| last6 = Keysers | first6 = C.

| last7 = Rizzolatti | first7 = G.

| title = I know what you are doing. A neurophysiological study

| journal = Neuron

| volume = 31

| issue = 1

| pages = 155–165

| year = 2001

| pmid = 11498058 | doi=10.1016/s0896-6273(01)00337-3

| doi-access = free

}} Mirror neurons that both perceive and produce the motor movements of speech have been identified.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Hickok | first1 = G.

| title = The role of mirror neurons in speech and language processing

| doi = 10.1016/j.bandl.2009.10.006

| journal = Brain and Language

| volume = 112

| issue = 1

| pages = 1–2

| year = 2010

| pmid = 19948355

| pmc =2813993

}} Speech is mirrored constantly into its articulations since speakers cannot know in advance that a word is unfamiliar and in need of repetition—which is only learnt after the opportunity to map it into articulations has gone. Thus, speakers if they are to incorporate unfamiliar words into their spoken vocabulary

must by default map all spoken input.{{Cite journal | last1 = Skoyles | first1 = J. R. | title = Mapping of heard speech into articulation information and speech acquisition | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1003007107 | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume = 107 | issue = 18 | pages = E73 | year = 2010 | pmid = 20427741| pmc = 2889576| bibcode = 2010PNAS..107E..73S | doi-access = free }}

Words in sign languages, unlike those in spoken ones, are made not of sequential units but of spatial configurations of subword unit arrangements, the spatial analogue of the sonic-chronological morphemes of spoken language.Poizner H. Klima ES. Bellugi U. (1987). What the hands reveal about the brain. MIT Press. {{ISBN|978-0-262-66066-2}} These words, like spoken ones, are learnt by imitation. Indeed, rare cases of compulsive sign-language echolalia exist in otherwise language-deficient deaf autistic individuals born into signing families. At least some cortical areas neurobiologically active during both sign and vocal speech, such as the auditory cortex, are associated with the act of imitation.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Nishimura | first1 = H.

| last2 = Hashikawa | first2 = K.

| last3 = Doi | first3 = K.

| last4 = Iwaki | first4 = T.

| last5 = Watanabe | first5 = Y.

| last6 = Kusuoka | first6 = H.

| last7 = Nishimura | first7 = T.

| last8 = Kubo | first8 = T.

| title = Sign language 'heard' in the auditory cortex

| journal = Nature

| volume = 397

| issue = 6715

| pages = 116

| doi = 10.1038/16376

| year = 1999

| pmid = 9923672

| bibcode = 1999Natur.397..116N

| s2cid = 4414422

| doi-access = free

}}

Birds learn their songs from those made by other birds. In several examples, birds show highly developed repetition abilities: the Sri Lankan Greater racket-tailed drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus) copies the calls of predators and the alarm signals of other birds{{Cite journal

| last1 = Goodale | first1 = E.

| last2 = Kotagama | first2 = S. W.

| doi = 10.1098/rspb.2005.3392

| title = Context-dependent vocal mimicry in a passerine bird

| journal = Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

| volume = 273

| issue = 1588

| pages = 875–880

| year = 2006

| pmid = 16618682

| pmc =1560225

}} Albert's lyrebird (Menura alberti) can accurately imitate the satin bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus),{{Cite journal

| last1 = Putland | first1 = D. A.

| last2 = Nicholls | first2 = J. A.

| last3 = Noad | first3 = M. J.

| last4 = Goldizen | first4 = A. W.

| title = Imitating the neighbours: Vocal dialect matching in a mimic-model system

| doi = 10.1098/rsbl.2006.0502

| journal = Biology Letters

| volume = 2

| issue = 3

| pages = 367–370

| year = 2006

| pmid = 17148405

| pmc =1686190

}}

Research upon avian vocal motor neurons finds that they perceive their song as a series of articulatory gestures as in humans.{{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1126/science.4012321

| last1 = Williams | first1 = H.

| last2 = Nottebohm | first2 = F.

| title = Auditory responses in avian vocal motor neurons: A motor theory for song perception in birds

| journal = Science

| volume = 229

| issue = 4710

| pages = 279–282

| year = 1985

| pmid = 4012321

| bibcode = 1985Sci...229..279W | s2cid = 19053313 }} Birds that can imitate humans, such as the Indian hill myna (Gracula religiosa), imitate human speech by mimicking the various speech formants, created by changing the shape of the human vocal tract, with different vibration frequencies of its internal tympaniform membrane.{{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1121/1.1914607

| last1 = Klatt | first1 = D. H.

| last2 = Stefanski | first2 = R. A.

| title = How does a mynah bird imitate human speech?

| journal = The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

| volume = 55

| issue = 4

| pages = 822–832

| year = 1974

| pmid = 4833078

| bibcode = 1974ASAJ...55..822K }} Indian hill mynahs also imitate such phonetic characteristics as voicing, fundamental frequencies, formant transitions, nasalization, and timing, through their vocal movements are made in a different way from those of the human vocal apparatus.

• Bottlenose dolphins can show spontaneous vocal mimicry of computer-generated whistles.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Reiss | first1 = D.

| last2 = McCowan | first2 = B.

| title = Spontaneous vocal mimicry and production by bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus): Evidence for vocal learning

| journal = Journal of Comparative Psychology

| volume = 107

| issue = 3

| pages = 301–312

| year = 1993

| pmid = 8375147

| doi=10.1037/0735-7036.107.3.301

}}

• Killer whales can mimic the barks of California sea lions.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Foote | first1 = A. D.

| last2 = Griffin | first2 = R. M.

| last3 = Howitt | first3 = D.

| last4 = Larsson | first4 = L.

| last5 = Miller | first5 = P. J. O.

| last6 = Hoelzel | first6 = A.

| doi = 10.1098/rsbl.2006.0525

| title = Killer whales are capable of vocal learning

| journal = Biology Letters

| volume = 2

| issue = 4

| pages = 509–512

| year = 2006

| pmid = 17148275

| pmc =1834009

}}

• Harbor seals can mimic in a speech-like manner one or more English words and phrases{{Cite journal | last1 = Ralls | first1 = K. | last2 = Fiorelli | first2 = P. | last3 = Gish | first3 = S. | doi = 10.1139/z85-157 | title = Vocalizations and vocal mimicry in captive harbor seals, Phoca vitulina | journal = Canadian Journal of Zoology | volume = 63 | issue = 5 | pages = 1050–1056 | year = 1985 | bibcode = 1985CaJZ...63.1050R }}
• Elephants can imitate trunk sounds.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Poole | first1 = J. H.

| last2 = Tyack | first2 = P. L.

| last3 = Stoeger-Horwath | first3 = A. S.

| last4 = Watwood | first4 = S.

| title = Animal behaviour: Elephants are capable of vocal learning

| doi = 10.1038/434455a

| journal = Nature

| volume = 434

| issue = 7032

| pages = 455–456

| year = 2005

| pmid = 15791244

| bibcode = 2005Natur.434..455P

| s2cid = 4369863

}}

• Lesser spear-nosed bat can learn their call structure from artificial playback.{{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1097/00001756-199409080-00007

| last1 = Esser | first1 = K. H.

| title = Audio-vocal learning in a non-human mammal: The lesser spear-nosed bat Phyllostomus discolor

| journal = NeuroReport

| volume = 5

| issue = 14

| pages = 1718–1720

| year = 1994

| pmid = 7827315

}}

• An orangutan has spontaneously copied the whistles of humans.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Wich | first1 = S. A.

| last2 = Swartz | first2 = K. B.

| last3 = Hardus | first3 = M. E.

| last4 = Lameira | first4 = A. R.

| last5 = Stromberg | first5 = E.

| last6 = Shumaker | first6 = R. W.

| doi = 10.1007/s10329-008-0117-y

| title = A case of spontaneous acquisition of a human sound by an orangutan

| journal = Primates

| volume = 50

| issue = 1

| pages = 56–64

| year = 2008

| pmid = 19052691

| s2cid = 708682

}}

Apes taught language show an ability to imitate language signs with chimpanzees such as Washoe who was able to learn with his arms a vocabulary of 250 American Sign Language gestures. However, such human trained apes show no ability to imitate human speech vocalizations.Hayes C. (1951). The ape in our house, Harper, New York. {{OCLC|1579444}}

{{div col}}

• Alan Baddeley
• Auditory processing disorder
• Baddeley's model of working memory
• Conduction aphasia
• Developmental verbal dyspraxia
• Echoic memory
• Echolalia
• Language development
• Language acquisition
• Language-based learning disability
• Mirror neurons
• Mirroring (psychology)
• Motor cognition
• Motor theory of speech perception
• Origin of language
• Passive speakers
• Phonological development
• Pronunciation
• Second-language acquisition
• Short-term memory
• Speech perception
• Thematic coherence
• Transcortical motor aphasia
• Transcortical sensory aphasia
• Vocabulary growth
• Vocal learning

{{div col end}}

{{reflist|2}}

Category:Developmental psychology

Category:Evolution of language

Category:Language

Category:Language acquisition

Category:Motor control

Category:Phonetics

Category:Speech and language pathology

Category:Speech recognition

Category:Speech