The Origin of Language

Linguistique de Paris banned all discussions about the origin of language. The ban lasted for more than a century, before a surge of research began during the 1990s. Linguists, psychologists, anthropologists, and archaeologists now frequently debate the origin of language and have published many articles and books on this topic. And yet, despite almost frenzied activity, limited progress has been made. B I believe there are four reasons for this. The first is an insufficient concern with the archaeological and fossil proof of the brains and behaviour of our human ancestors. Many theories to date rely on an assumed association between brain size and language abilities, without acknowledging the problem this creates: fossil evidence indicates that the Neanderthals had larger brains than modern humans, Homo sapiens, but archaeological evidence indicates that the Neanderthals lacked a capacity for language. So something is seriously amiss with those theories. C That 'something' might relate to the second reason for limited progress: insufficient concern with the other major aural and vocal communication system of modern humans: music. Even though the Société de Linguistique de Paris had nothing to say about studying the origin of…