From Grunts to More Complex Grunts

Using language every day to communicate for almost all of my life has definitely made it an automatic process for me, as is the case for basically every human on the planet. However, taking a linguistics course has opened my eyes a bit to the complexity of modern language and how it is used by all of us on a daily basis. It’s really amazing when you think about it and I believe it begs the question that has, no doubt, been asked thousands of times: How did human language begin? Although there are animals that use basic sounds to convey ideas such as danger, we are the only species that has the ability to use our brains for complex communication in the form of spoken language. The gap is so huge between animal and human communication that we can’t help but wonder how our ancestors did it. How did the “cavemen” go from grunts to slightly more complicated grunts to full-on discussions about the origins of the universe and the meaning of life?

In a paper titled “How Did Language Begin?” from the Linguistic Society of America, Ray Jackendoff makes an attempt at breaking down the question. He begins by asking whether language developed gradually in stages or whether it happened all at once. There are some people that say there was a one mutation in the human brain that suddenly allowed for complex communication. Others say it’s more likely that it all happened gradually over millions of years as hominids evolved and began using tools, therefore causing a need to describe objects with sounds. Later, these sounds were combined to make rudimentary sentences, similar to how a two year-old might communicate today. The final gradual stage would be the addition of grammatical structure. Researchers say that these types of changes in language would require genetic changes in the human brain that allowed for better control of our vocal tract and a more complex thought process. Another question that’s discussed often is when did humans begin to use language. Some say that language probably coincided with the creation of the first tools about 1.75 million years ago. Others say that language developed more recently from about 100,000 to 50,000 years ago when the first signs of civilizations were evident such as art and cultural rituals. As you can see, there is much debate on the origins of language and it is tough to find any historical evidence that could provide answers to these questions.

I actually have a basic theory on how language first started that I thought of this past week during break. I was in the waiting room of my siblings’ pediatrician and I observed a toddler asking his dad over and over, “What’s that?” while pointing to various things in the room. I remember reading before that referring to objects by pointing is an ability that only apes have. I believe this may have a connection to the beginning of language. The first hominid that came up with the idea to point to an object as a way of saying, “Look at that!” created a need for our ancestors to be specific when describing whatever was being pointed at. As hominids became more advanced, physical pointing began to be replaced with sounds as a way to “point” to an object. Instead of actually pointing at a tree, maybe hominids figured out that they could vocally refer to the tree with a specific sound.

The origin of language is definitely an open question and a topic of debate. What are your thoughts? Do you know of any other studies that propose some theories?