Evolution of Human Language: Genetic and Anatomical Factors

Genetic source

It is thought that a crucial mutation that took place over a short period caused a genetic change that made it possible for humans to create a language.

Teeth

Are upright, not slanting outwards like those of apes and they are roughly even in height

Lips

Have much more intricate muscle interlacing than is found in other primates and their resulting flexibility certainly helps in making sounds like p or b

Mouth

Is relatively small compared to other primates can be opened and closed rapidly and contains a smaller, thicker and more muscular tongue which can be used to shape wide variety of sounds inside the oral cavity

Larynx

Or voice box containing the vocal folds or vocal cords differs significantly in position from the larynx of other primates such as monkeys,

Pharynx

Above the vocal folds which acts as a resonator for increased range and clarity of the sounds produced via the larynx and the vocal tract.

Communication

We have two different types of signals in communication:
Communicative signals and informative signals.
The informative signals are those that we aren't doing intentionally, a sneeze, a nervous behavior, non-matching socks telling that you aren't organized.
Communicative signals are those that are intended to tell something.

Properties of Human Language

Human beings have a number of abilities which animals do not.

Displacement

Animals can only communicate their needs or message in the present. A dog barks when you arrive home because it is happy at that moment. A cat meows to tell you it wants to eat right now. Humans, however, can communicate abstract ideas and messages related to the past and future.

Arbitrariness

Apart from onomatopoeia, the sound or form of a word has no connection to the idea it represents. This is because humans have a wide range of possible sounds, and an almost infinite array of ideas to communicate. Animal sounds and gestures are often much more direct.

Productivity

Humans can use the wide range of linguistic resources to convey new and creative ideas. Animals cannot. In one experiment, a group of bees were taken to the top of a tower and given some nectar. They returned to the hive and tried to communicate the location, but it was impossible. Bees dance to demonstrate location, but only horizontally. They have no dance for ‘up’, and they cannot create one.

Lemurs have one sound for ‘snake’ and another sound for ‘eagle’, used to warn other monkeys of danger. Researchers experimented by showing the monkeys flying snake creatures, but they could not combine or change these sounds to express the new dangers.

Cultural Transmission

If a kitten grows up with a family of dogs, it will still say ‘meow’. If a Chinese baby is taken to France, it will grow up speaking French. (Almost) all humans are born with the ability to learn language, but that language is determined by culture, not genes or instinct.

Duality

Human communication combines discrete individual sounds to make words and meanings. This two-level system is called duality. A cat can say ‘meow’ to express that it is hungry, but it cannot produce new combinations of those sounds (weom, moew, wome) for new meanings.