How language evolved: Laying the foundations

1 December 2010
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Could gestures have provided the beginnings of language

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Read more: Instant Expert: The evolution of language

Different linguistic traits must have appeared at different times, perhaps for different reasons. But which of these “protolanguages” came first?

When viewing language as a collection of many distinct components, it becomes clear that the different linguistic traits must have appeared at different periods of human evolution, perhaps for different reasons. But while most theorists agree that early humans passed through multiple stages en route to modern language, there are major differences of opinion concerning the order in which the different components appeared.

A system which possesses some, but not all, components of language can be termed a “protolanguage” – a term introduced by anthropologist Gordon Hewes in 1973. Three potential protolanguages dominate theories of language evolution.

The protolinguistic ape?

The earliest writing, providing clear evidence of modern language, dates from just 6000 years ago, but language in its modern form emerged long before then. Because all modern humans come from an ancestral African population, and children from any existing culture can learn any language, language must have preceded our emigration from Africa at least 50,000 years ago. But can we put a date on the emergence of the first rudimentary protolanguages?

Whether gestural, musical or lexical, protolanguage considerably surpassed modern ape communication in the wild. With all the cognitive challenges, and benefits, this would bring, we would expect these early humans to differ considerably from their forebears in both anatomy and culture. Using this logic, Homo erectus, which originated almost 2 million years ago, appears to be the most likely candidate. …

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