KEY POINTS:
Robert McCarthy, an anthropologist at Florida Atlantic University in
Boca Raton, used new reconstructions of Neanderthal vocal tracts to
work out how they would have sounded.
Findings show they may have sounded a bit like New Zealanders. In contrast to a modern human "e," the Neanderthal version lacks a
quantal hallmark, which helps a listener distinguish the word "beat"
from "bit," for instance.
Where do you think the NZ accent orignated from?
