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who asked the first question? - International Research Center For ...

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359acquired, it is one of <strong>the</strong> most readily lost or impaired (see Bloodstein, 1993:179). Thisidea is widely accepted by speech pathologists. At least, I can say that I have never seenanyone criticizing this idea.Therefore, from an evolutionary point of view stuttering could be considered as a“speech counterpart” of <strong>the</strong> “Wagner ear phenomenon”. In “Wagner ear phenomenon”normal (or even outstanding) musical abilities coexist with inferior pitch production. Instuttering normal (or even outstanding) intellectual and language abilities coexist with anabsence of fluent and smooth speech. So, both phenomena are connected with <strong>the</strong>problems of correct sound production (and not cognitive ability). At <strong>the</strong> same time<strong>the</strong>re is an important evolutionary difference between <strong>the</strong>se two phenomena:• The replacement of pitch language by articulated speech in human prehistorymust have resulted in <strong>the</strong> loss of <strong>the</strong> survival value of precise pitch control (in a simplewords – singing in tune). In a certain sense, we may say that a good musical ear is a relictof our past (see also Mi<strong>the</strong>n, 2005:245, 260). This change must have resulted in a gradualincrease in individuals with problems of precise pitch control (or individuals with“Wagner ear phenomenon”) since <strong>the</strong> advance of fully articulated speech as a languagemedium.• On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand, as fine articulation obtained a high survival value in humansociety, gaining primary importance in social life since <strong>the</strong> replacement of pitch languageby articulated speech, it would be logical to anticipate <strong>the</strong> eventual decrease of <strong>the</strong>number of stutterers throughout human history. In a certain way, as Livingstonesuggested, we “could still be in <strong>the</strong> process of adapting to this change” (Livingstone,1973:29). In this context it is interesting that speech pathologists note <strong>the</strong> tendencytowards reduced numbers of stutterers in contemporary society (See <strong>the</strong> section “Is <strong>the</strong>incidence of stuttering declining?” in: Van Riper, 1971:51-52; See also Bloodstein,1995:140-141). Wendell Johnson attributed this change to <strong>the</strong> influence of hisdiagnosogenic <strong>the</strong>ory (see later), Charles Van Riper – to <strong>the</strong> impact of new methods ofspeech pathology, and some to <strong>the</strong> influence of Z. Freud <strong>the</strong>ory (Bloodstein, 1993:133).According to <strong>the</strong> general consensus of contemporary speech pathologists, genetic factorhas a major role in <strong>the</strong> onset of stuttering, and speech pathologists and existing methodscannot actually “cure” stutterers. The main aim of <strong>the</strong> contemporary speech pathology isto help a person to adapt to <strong>the</strong> speech problem and to lesser <strong>the</strong> social impact ofstuttering.Speech, choral singing and stutteringOn <strong>the</strong> evening of 13 th of December of 1986 I was sitting in <strong>the</strong> Moscowapartment of Valeri Alexeev discussing <strong>the</strong> possibility of <strong>the</strong> asynchronous shift toarticulated speech of different human populations.It was only couple of days later after I found out about <strong>the</strong> presence of vocalpolyphony among <strong>the</strong> Ainus, and we were discussing <strong>the</strong> possibility of an asynchronousshift of different human populations to articulated speech from both a musical and a

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