Final answer:
Neanderthals lacked the necessary anatomical features for humanlike speech, according to cognitive scientist Philip Lieberman. Their vocal tract anatomy, with a high larynx and limited ability to produce sounds, suggests that their capacity for complex language production was limited. While they possessed the FOXP2 gene associated with understanding complex language, it remains uncertain if Neanderthals had the ability to produce complex language.
Step-by-step explanation:
Philip Lieberman, a cognitive scientist at Brown University, argues that Neanderthals lacked the anatomy necessary for humanlike speech. He drew this conclusion based on a reconstruction of a Neanderthal throat, which indicated that the neck could not accommodate the vocal apparatus of modern humans (Lieberman, P. 2007). While there is evidence of a hyoid bone, a small horseshoe-shaped bone in the front of the neck, that would have been able to anchor the tongue muscles, other anatomical evidence suggests that the larynx in Neanderthals was placed high in the throat. A highly placed larynx limits an animal's ability to produce many sounds, such as vowels. In humans, the larynx is positioned further down into the throat. The Neanderthal has been determined to have possessed the gene FOXP2, which is linked to the ability to understand complex language, but the verdict is still out as to whether they were able to produce complex language. It is believed by some researchers that the ability to produce complex speech gave H. sapiens a significant edge over the Neanderthal.