Discoveries in neurology and linguistics indicate that many aspects of human language are determined by specific structural features of the brain, a notion which differs radically from the more prevalent idea of language being an arbitrary, culturally evolved set of symbols and combinatorial rules which during development somehow become represented upon an infinitely malleable nervous system. The present study has attempted to examine whether such neurological specification might extend to other aspects of our social interactions as well, particularly the communication of affect through paralinguistic cues. But before describing the rationale for our own studies, it might be best to mention a little more about spoken language.