Question: When Doctor Brennan is examining the victim's skull, she states that a "straight suture across the palatine bone" indicates that the victim was a native Japanese speaker. I've studied linguistics, but I've never heard of a person's native language actually affecting their anatomy. So, for example: would a person of Japanese heritage who was born and raised in the US and spoke only English be distinguishable from a person who grew up in Japan and spoke only Japanese, purely by their palatine bones? (00:06:10)
tinsmith
13th Oct 2013
Bones (2005)
18th Mar 2012
A Few Good Men (1992)
Question: Since the link on the answer to the original question is now broken, I will ask it again; What does Jessup mean when he says he wants Santiago to make 4-6-4-6 on his next proficiency report?
Chosen answer: The Marine proficiency and conduct report is scored from 0.0 to 5.0. Above 4.5 is classified as "Excellent", which is why Jessup wanted him at 4.6.
Answer: Since the palatine bone is a bone that helps form the mouth it has a lot to do with speaking. The shape of it differs a lot depending on your ethnic background. I would guess that they, in the show, meant that the person's bone tells that they were Japanese and that it was "made for the purpose of speaking Japanese." That's what I'd assume anyway. I've studied molecular biology though, so I'm not an expert on bones.
It's fictitious. Even in 2005. Even in 2025. There is some data that links certain ethnicities to be able to produce different sounds easier/better due to morphology, bone structure, elevation, etc., but no data has shown any 1:1 relationships to any specific group as human groups overlap over time extensively. Certainly, you wouldn't be able to determine their native language due to a small bone formation in the mouth.