How humans evolved language

How humans evolved language

Read an academic text about how humans evolved language to practise and improve your reading skills.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and do the exercises.

Preparation

Reading text

A

Thanks to the field of linguistics we know much about the development of the 5,000 plus languages in existence today. We can describe their grammar and pronunciation and see how their spoken and written forms have changed over time. For example, we understand the origins of the Indo-European group of languages, which includes Norwegian, Hindi and English, and can trace them back to tribes in eastern Europe in about 3000 BC.

So, we have mapped out a great deal of the history of language, but there are still areas we know little about. Experts are beginning to look to the field of evolutionary biology to find out how the human species developed to be able to use language. So far, there are far more questions and half-theories than answers.

B

We know that human language is far more complex than that of even our nearest and most intelligent relatives like chimpanzees. We can express complex thoughts, convey subtle emotions and communicate about abstract concepts such as past and future. And we do this following a set of structural rules, known as grammar. Do only humans use an innate system of rules to govern the order of words? Perhaps not, as some research may suggest dolphins share this capability because they are able to recognise when these rules are broken.

C

If we want to know where our capability for complex language came from, we need to look at how our brains are different from other animals. This relates to more than just brain size; it is important what other things our brains can do and when and why they evolved that way. And for this there are very few physical clues; artefacts left by our ancestors don't tell us what speech they were capable of making. One thing we can see in the remains of early humans, however, is the development of the mouth, throat and tongue. By about 100,000 years ago, humans had evolved the ability to create complex sounds. Before that, evolutionary biologists can only guess whether or not early humans communicated using more basic sounds.

D

Another question is, what is it about human brains that allowed language to evolve in a way that it did not in other primates? At some point, our brains became able to make our mouths produce vowel and consonant sounds, and we developed the capacity to invent words to name things around us. These were the basic ingredients for complex language. The next change would have been to put those words into sentences, similar to the 'protolanguage' children use when they first learn to speak. No one knows if the next step – adding grammar to signal past, present and future, for example, or plurals and relative clauses – required a further development in the human brain or was simply a response to our increasingly civilised way of living together.

Between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago, though, we start to see the evidence of early human civilisation, through cave paintings for example; no one knows the connection between this and language. Brains didn't suddenly get bigger, yet humans did become more complex and more intelligent. Was it using language that caused their brains to develop? Or did their more complex brains start producing language?

E

More questions lie in looking at the influence of genetics on brain and language development. Are there genes that mutated and gave us language ability? Researchers have found a gene mutation that occurred between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago, which seems to have a connection with speaking and how our brains control our mouths and face. Monkeys have a similar gene, but it did not undergo this mutation. It's too early to say how much influence genes have on language, but one day the answers might be found in our DNA.

Task 1

Task 2

Discussion

Download
Worksheet80.59 KB

Language level

Average: 4.1 (37 votes)
Do you need to improve your English reading skills?
Join thousands of learners from around the world who are improving their English reading skills with our online courses.

Hello wahaha

The text says that research shows that dolphins may also have the ability to use a grammar of sorts, but it doesn't say that dolphin language follows the same rules as human language. For one thing, it's not clear exactly whether dolphins have a grammar, and then it clearly suggests that even if they do, it's not as complex as human grammar.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by cartagena.paula on Sat, 30/11/2019 - 06:55

Permalink
There isn't any other species apart from human beings that are able to produce languages endowed with a complex grammar, syntax, semantics, phonology, etc. Studies made training chimpanzees to learn sign language have demonstrated that they can formulate simple sentences but they never learn further. Dolphins can have a grammar system as the text suggest, but it's limited.
Profile picture for user Rafaela1

Submitted by Rafaela1 on Tue, 29/10/2019 - 13:59

Permalink
About the question: Nope. ʕ•ﻌ•ʔฅ

Submitted by joachimkoerner on Wed, 16/10/2019 - 13:00

Permalink
Should the first sentence in section D not be phrased and punctuated differently? Such as: Another question is, what it is about human brains that allowed language to evolve in a way that it did not in other primates?

Hello joachimkoerner

I'm sorry for the delay in our response; I was checking with our proofreader. She explained that the comma is not necessary, but that it is often used to make a sentence such as this one a bit easier to read. So we have inserted a comma in the place you suggested, but otherwise the sentence remains the same.

Thanks for asking us about this.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Profile picture for user Luobowawa520

Submitted by Luobowawa520 on Thu, 22/08/2019 - 19:05

Permalink
I still think human language and our brain is far more complex than Dolphins and monkeys. They might can catch some human expression, but they can not fully understand the meanings and the structures. However, we don’t know how evolution goes, all the species are evolving slowly, maybe one day there be other species just like human as the stories from science fiction films.

Submitted by Laurrette on Thu, 22/08/2019 - 12:41

Permalink
Hello, I have a question relates to task 2 and question number 1. "Experts fully understand how the Hindi language developed", where in this text have we this word fully? Can we fully understand how the Hindi language developed? Because in text we have this: "we know much about the delevopment of the 5,000 plus languages.... we can describe their grammar and pronounciation .... we understand the origins of the Indo-European gropu of languages - but does this sentence mean fully understand?

Hello Laurrette

For the purposes of this exercise, yes, it means 'fully understand'. Although I think your point is a valid one, the idea is that the development of Hindi is understood well enough to say that we fully understand it.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by om mariam on Sun, 18/08/2019 - 09:02

Permalink
Many studies on animals show that many species has their own languages,like bees and aunts.But how complex these languages are? I think it needs more contemplation before answering this question, since we don't know much about these languages.