Language & Facial Features

Recently, when talking to someone, I was asked an interesting question - “Could the reason why people of the same ethnicity have similar facial features be due to them all speaking the same language?” Intrigued, I decided to research the matter but couldn’t find a conclusive answer. However, I do have my own hypothesis.

It is possible that speaking a common language can lead to similar facial features. After all, all sounds are created by exercising various facial muscles. Different languages use different sounds, meaning different muscles are exercised more depending on the language. Over time, this could lead to all speakers of a language having more defined muscles that correspond to those needed to make common sounds in their language. However, I find this reasoning difficult to explain overall similarity in facial features as there are similarities that cannot be only due to speaking the same language.

What I feel is more likely is that rather than those who speak the same language having similar features, it’s the opposite. Those with similar genetics tended to have similar facial

features and could make certain sounds easier than others. This led them to use these sounds more frequently; therefore, those sounds played a more prominent role in their language. This could also explain how early languages evolved and changed over time as people adapted words from root languages to make them easier for their people to pronounce, eventually leading to a new language forming.

What do you think? If you know of any conclusive research in this area, please leave a link in the comments.