In asking about the oginsri of human language, we first have to make clear what the question is. The question is not how lagesngua gradually dlopedeve over time into the languages of the world today. heRatr, it is how the mahun ciespes developed over time so that we – and not our closest relatives, the chimpanzees and bonobos – became acablep of using language.
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The question, then, is ___ the properties of human language got their start. Obviously, it couldn’t have been a bunch of cavemen sitting around and deciding to make up a language, since in order to do ___, they would have had to have a language to start ____!
Intuitively, ____ might reasonably speculate that hominids (human ancestors) started by grunting or hooting or crying out, and ‘gradually’ this ‘somehow’ developed into the sort of language we have today. The problem is in the ‘gradually’ and the ‘somehow’. Chimps grunt and hoot and cry out, ____.
The question, then, is how the properties of human language got their start. Obviously, it couldn’t have been a bunch of cavemen sitting around and deciding to make up a language, since in order to do so, they would have had to have a language to start with!
Intuitively, one might reasonably speculate that hominids (human ancestors) started by grunting or hooting or crying out, and ‘gradually’ this ‘somehow’ developed into the sort of language we have today. The problem is in the ‘gradually’ and the ‘somehow’. Chimps grunt and hoot and cry out, too. What happened to humans in the 6 million years or so since the hominid and chimpanzee lines diverged, and when and how did hominid communication begin to have the properties of modern language?
Intuitively, one might reasonably speculate that hominids (human ancestors) started by grunting or hooting or crying out, and ‘gradually’ this ‘somehow’ developed into the sort of language we have today. The problem is in the ‘gradually’ and the ‘somehow’. Chimps grunt and hoot and cry out, too. What happened to humans in the 6 million years or so since the hominid and chimpanzee lines diverged, and when and how did hominid communication begin to have the properties of modern language?
The basic difficulty with studying the evolution of language is that the evidence is so sparse. Spoken languages don’t leave fossils, and fossil skulls only tell us the overall shape and size of hominid brains, not what the brains could do. About the only definitive evidence we have is the shape of the vocal tract (the mouth, tongue, and throat): Until anatomically modern humans, about 100,000 years ago, the shape of hominid vocal tracts didn’t permit the modern range of speech sounds. But that doesn’t mean that language necessarily began then. Earlier hominids could have had a sort of language that used a more restricted range of consonants and vowels, and the changes in the vocal tract may only have had the effect of making speech faster and more ressiexpve. Some researchers even propose that language began as sign language, then (gradually or suddenly) switched to the vocal modality.
These issues and many others are undergoing lively investigation among linguists, psychologists, and biologists. One important question __ the degree to which precursors of human language ability are found in animals. For instance, how similar are apes’ systems of thought to ours? A related question __ what aspects of language are unique to language and what aspects just draw on other human abilities not shared with other primates. This issue __ particularly controversial. Some researchers claim that everything in language is built out of other human abilities: the ability for vocal imitation, the ability to memorize vast amounts of information (both needed for learning words), the desire to communicate, the understanding of others’ intentions and beliefs, and the ability to cooperate.
How did these changes take ____? Some researchers claim that they came in a single leap, creating through one mutation the complete system in the brain by which humans express complex meanings through combinations of sounds. These people also tend to claim that there are few aspects of language that are not already present __ animals.
As for when this all happened, again, it’s very hard to tell. We do know that something important happened in the human line between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago: this is when we start to find cultural artefacts such as art and ritual objects, evidence of what we would call civilization. What was the nature of this transformation to the species at that point? Did they just get smarter (even if their brains didn’t suddenly get larger)? Did they develop language all of a sudden? Did they become smarter because of the intellectual advantages that language affords (such as the ability to maintain an oral history over generations)? At the moment, we don’t know, and, perhaps more intriguingly, we cannot predict how language as a communication system will develop in the future.
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In asking about the origins of human language, we first have to make clear what the question is. The question is not how languages gradually developed over time into the languages of the world today. Rather, it is how the human species developed over time so that we – and not our closest relatives, the chimpanzees and bonobos – became capable of using language.
The question, then, is how the properties of human language got their start. Obviously, it couldn’t have been a bunch of cavemen sitting around and deciding to make up a language, since in order to do so, they would have had to have a language to start with! Intuitively, one might reasonably speculate that hominids (human ancestors) started by grunting or hooting or crying out, and ‘gradually’ this ‘somehow’ developed into the sort of language we have today. The problem is in the ‘gradually’ and the ‘somehow’. Chimps grunt and hoot and cry out, too. What happened to humans in the 6 million years or so since the hominid and chimpanzee lines diverged, and when and how did hominid communication begin to have the properties of modern language?
Intuitively (meaning: following common sense), one might reasonably speculate that hominids (human ancestors) started by grunting or hooting or crying out, and ‘gradually’ this ‘somehow’ developed into the sort of language we have today. The problem is in the ‘gradually’ and the ‘somehow’. Chimps grunt and hoot and cry out, too. What happened to humans in the 6 million years or so since the hominid and chimpanzee lines diverged (meaning: got separated), and when and how did hominid communication begin to have the properties of modern language?
The basic difficulty with studying the evolution of language is that the evidence is so sparse (hard to come by). Spoken languages don’t leave fossils, and fossil skulls only tell us the overall (general) shape and size of hominid brains, not what the brains could do. About the only definitive (conclusive) evidence we have is the shape of the vocal tract (the mouth, tongue, and throat): Until anatomically modern humans, about 100,000 years ago, the shape of hominid vocal tracts didn’t permit the modern range of speech sounds. But that doesn’t mean that language necessarily began then. Earlier hominids could have had a sort of language that used a more restricted range of consonants and vowels, and the changes in the vocal tract may only have had the effect of making speech faster and more expressive. Some researchers even propose that language began as sign language, then (gradually or suddenly) switched to the vocal modality (approach).
These issues and many others are undergoing lively investigation among linguists, psychologists, and biologists. One important question is the degree to which precursors of human language ability are found in animals. For instance, how similar are apes’ systems of thought to ours? A related question is what aspects of language are unique to language and what aspects just draw on other human abilities not shared with other primates. This issue is particularly controversial. Some researchers claim that everything in language is built out of other human abilities: the ability for vocal imitation, the ability to memorize vast amounts of information (both needed for learning words), the desire to communicate, the understanding of others’ intentions and beliefs, and the ability to cooperate.
How did these changes take place? Some researchers claim that they came in a single leap, creating through one mutation the complete system in the brain by which humans express complex meanings through combinations of sounds. These people also tend to claim that there are few aspects of language that are not already present in animals.
As for when this all happened, again, it’s very hard to tell. We do know that something important happened in the human line between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago: this is when we start to find cultural artefacts such as art and ritual objects, evidence of what we would call (what is generally understood as) civilization. What was the nature of this transformation to the species at that point? Did they just get smarter (even if their brains didn’t suddenly get larger)? Did they develop language all of a sudden? Did they become smarter because of the intellectual advantages that language affords (such as the ability to maintain an oral history over generations)? At the moment, we don’t know, and, perhaps more intriguingly (interestingly), we cannot predict how language as a communication system will develop in the future.
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