The Eternal Mysteries of Language

March 10, 2016 With three linguistic scientists

The basic unanswered (unanswerable?) question is how did language originate. Are we uniquely structured (larynx, throat, tongue, etc.) and intelligent (brain) so that we are the only linguistic animals? And, if not, what is the nature and extent of the “languages” of other species? For that matter, does thinking require language itself? We are joined by three professors of linguistics in this vivid discussion from fifteen years ago.