Where does Language Come From?
There are two questions here. The first question is about the evolutionary roots of language.
If human language is different from animal language – when did this separation occur? When did human beings develop a form or use of language which was so distinct from the rest of the animal kingdom?
Of course any attempt to answer this question is always going to involve a large degree of speculation. Philip Lieberman pointed out that the evolution of homo sapiens brought with it a biological change in the way that the larynx is positioned in the throat. It is lower in humans than in animals, which creates a longer ‘tube’ through which a greater range of sound shapes can be made.
Of course, this idea is difficult to accept. Boys are able to use language long before their larynx ‘drops’ at puberty and this does not impact upon their ability to talk beforehand. So theories continue to rage.
Some anthropologists and palaeontologists argue that there was an ‘explosion’ of sophisticated activities in Homo sapiens around 50,000 years ago. It was around this period that Homo sapiens suddenly began to include things like using fine tools, creative cave art, making bows and arrows, building tends and huts, etc.. Perhaps this was when language developed as well?