But there is another way of reading this question. This relates the origins of language not to the evolution of the species, but to the way in which language develops from the moment we are born.
From the screaming baby, mewling its way into this bright world, to the literate adult, able to read and speak fluently, there is an incredible process of language acquisition that takes place.
How does this process happen? What causes it? It would be easy to say that babies just learn by interacting with their parents, but this does not really explain the complexity of what children learn, and the rate at which they learn it.
Think about it: How complex is language? Very! The rules of human language are infinitely more complicated than the rules of, say, computer programming. However, children learn those rules within the first few years of their life. When we become adults though, how easy is it for us to learn the rules of computer programming? Hard! How can it be so easy for children to learn such a complicated thing as language, when the relatively easy task of learning how to use a computer can take an adult far longer?
Current debate on the issue of how language is acquired has focused on the findings of Noam Chomsky. As a linguist, Chomsky has been heralded by the New York Times as “the most important intellectual alive”, and a Wikipedia poll has him topping the list of the world’s most important public intellectuals. On reason for the importance which people place on Chomsky, is his dazzling claim that human beings are born with an innate predisposition to acquire language.