Gaby
We can’t listen to Neanderthals, but the bones they left behind give hints about how they talked. Neanderthals clearly mated with one another. What we can’t know for sure is how complex the conversations before those encounters were. Fossils don’t speak, and the species died out long before anyone had recording equipment, so archaeologists can’t definitively say whether Neanderthals had full-fledged language skills — though they can make educated guesses.
Neanderthal Speech Sounds Were Similar to Modern Languages
Linguist Antonio Benítez-Burraco argues that Neanderthal speech was probably very similar to ours, though less flexible and structurally simpler. He draws that conclusion from a multidisciplinary look at early-human vocal abilities that combines anatomy, socio-cultural and ecological evidence, cognition research, and genetics.
For example, Benítez-Burraco points out that Neanderthals had a vocal apparatus much like ours, which suggests they could produce most of the same sounds modern humans can. Their hearing appears to have been similar to ours as well. Taken together, these features imply they had the physical equipment needed for fairly complex vocal communication.
Neanderthal Language Lacked Complex Phrases
However, the shape of the Neanderthal skull cavity indicates that their brains were less “globular” than ours. This may explain why the thalamus—a region actively involved in processing language—could have been less pronounced.
This has led to assumptions that Neanderthals were less capable of “cross-modal thinking.” Consequently, many researchers believe Neanderthals lacked the ability modern humans have to create complex linguistic structures by combining different concepts.
Moreover, the relative simplicity of Neanderthal tools suggests they did not share our capacity for “hierarchical thinking.” Thus, it is thought that these early humans may have been unable to construct complex phrases or sentences. The limited cultural change seen in Neanderthal industries over time may reflect an inability to innovate because of “less powerful working memory resources.”
As Iflscience reports, Benítez-Burraco argues that these cognitive limits would have constrained Neanderthal linguistic abilities. He suggests Neanderthal language likely had simpler syntax, fewer functional categories (such as conjunctions), and less distinctive sounds. It may also have been less able to convey complex propositional meanings.
The True Pronunciation of Neanderthals Will Remain a Mystery
On the sound of Neanderthal speech, Benítez-Burraco proposes that the “cold, dry, and open environment” where the species lived may have promoted a “rich consonantism.” That means Neanderthal language likely contained a significant number of consonants.
This idea builds on observed links between environment and language: low temperatures “do not favor the use of pitch to convey linguistic information,” while dryness “does not sound favorable to the voice.”
Benítez-Burraco also cautions that this is a very rough picture of what Neanderthal language might have been like. He admits it’s unlikely we will ever know exactly how our ancient relatives spoke. Perhaps the only way to find out would be to invent a time machine and travel back to that distant past.
