anthropophonics (n.)

A term suggested by Polish linguist Jan Baudoin de Courtenay (1845–1929) for the study of the physical potential for sound production in the human vocal apparatus. The field includes the physical comparison of VOCAL TRACTS and individual ARTICULATING organs in ethnic or racial populations, to determine whether anatomical differences (e.g. TONGUE SIZE) have any PHONETIC or PHONOLOGICAL consequences. Differences between the sexes and changes with age are also included. One of the general aims of the field is to determine the principles on which the selection of the sounds in individual languages might be based in the course of human evolution. The term is not used by all phoneticians, many of whom see its subject-matter as simply a part of phonetics.