Why Are Humans The Only Animals That Language?
The many theories of how humans become the only primates capable of languaging.
I received a request to write about whether all language is merely an imitation of surrounding sounds. I went in a slightly different direction, but I hope this answers your question!
The study of language—linguistics—is a broad field, for language is broad and is involved in everything from the way we love to the way we punish. These emotions and actions are not unique to humans—chimps appear to show signs that they can both love and punish their fellow chimps. Whether they are gesturing or grunting, chimps surely communicate. But what makes humans unique is that we do more than communicate, we use words that have meaning and string them into sentences that also have meaning; whether it be spoken, signed, or written, humans have the unique ability to language.
The crazy part is that if we start seven million years ago, humans were language-less chimps1. If we fast forward a couple million years, Homo sapiens come on the scene, still language-less. And about a million years later, Homo sapiens have language. The question is: What happened!?
How did we go from language-less chimps to humans who can—not only language—but who have an entire field devoted to the study of language?
The short answer is that there’s too little concrete evidence to know (it’s the reason why the French Academy banned the study on the origin of human language in 1886..it was mere speculation with no hard evidence in sight). But the long answer is the topic for this newsletter. Let’s begin!
Is Language Merely An Imitation of Sounds?
Owls get their name from the sound they make. Whether we use the word from Old English, üle, or the modern owl, both of these names sound quite like the sound the animal makes. In other words, it’s an example of onomatopoeia, and the relationship between the sound and its meaning is not arbitrary; it makes sense.
Could it be that all of human language started this way?
When academics first began exploring the genesis of language, many theories were based on this idea that language started as onomatopoeia and grew from there. Today, most academics are critical of these types of theories because they miss the point of explaining which circumstances changed in order for language to begin. In other words, they make it seem like language popped up out of nowhere.
So, we need to ask other questions: How exactly are Homo sapiens different from chimps? If Homo sapiens and chimps split 6 million years ago, why did human language only begin between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago?
A Lot of Changes Made Languaging Possible
Several anatomical changes had to occur in order for language to even be possible. It’s the lining up of these changes over millions of years that blows my mind every time, and that makes me marvel at human language.
Not including the changes to the brain (which got larger), four major changes2 are: 1.) the lowering of the larynx, 2.) the control of our lower jaws, 3.) the control of the diaphragm, and 4.) FOXP2 gene.
Our Larynxes Changed Position
Our larynx is located in our throat and contains our vocal folds. When we speak, we vibrate our vocal folds, and that vibration turns into sound waves, which travel to people’s ears and deliver our message. All reptiles, amphibians, and mammals have larynxes. But compared to chimps and earlier Homo sapiens, modern humans have lower larynxes. When the larynx lowered, our vocal tract got bigger. With a bigger vocal tract, we have more space to create specific sounds. This larger vocal tract appears to be one of the changes that made languaging possible.
We Can Move Our Lower Jaws
Humans have a lot of muscles in the face, as do chimps. But a key change which occurred was that chimps have no control of the lower jaw but humans do. In other words, instead of having a lower jaw to only chomp food, humans can move it in complex ways to create desired sounds. This ability, which allows for vowels and consonants to be made, made languaging possible.
We Can Calculate How Much Air We’ll Need
Humans, unlike chimps, gained control of the diaphragm in our lungs. We can move our diaphragms up or down depending on how much air we’ll need in order to speak. So, if we’re about to give a speech, we’ll take a deep breath before to lower our diaphragm and speak for awhile before our next breath. If we’re only saying a few words, we lower the diaphragm less. This ability, which most humans don’t even know they possess, made languaging possible.
The FOXP2 Gene
The FOXP2 Gene is rather controversial. Almost all animals have this gene, but it has different functions in different species. In 2001, scientists discovered that in humans who had a mutation on their FOXP2 gene had trouble controlling the lower part of their jaw and had language deficits. Since this gene changed to its present form around 120,000-200,000 years ago—around the same time languaging began—some scientists have posited that this is gene responsible for language.
Most scientists reject this idea because FOXP2 affects all areas of the body: from the legs to the brain3. So, calling it the language gene is too narrow. But it could be that this gene has connected all of the other pieces to make languaging possible. How is explained in this video:
Conclusion
How exactly human language began is unclear, but I’ve outlined the key differences between chimps and humans, which make language possible. While there are more questions than answers, studying how humans evolved into languaging humans, to me, reveals how much had to happen to make the words on this page possible.
Discussion
Thank you for reading this newsletter! I’d love to keep discussing! You can comment below (paid subscribers) or reply to this email (anyone) letting me know your thoughts.
Works Cited
I used this page from the LSA to get a general understanding of how language began. But most of the information for this newsletter comes from Chapter 10 of this book:
Andresen, J. T., & Carter, P. M. (2016). Languages in the world: How history, culture, and politics shape language. John Wiley & Sons.
Humans and chimps split 6 million years ago.
Not an exhaustive list; there were other changes that made languaging possible.
The type of gene that FOXP2 is is one that tells other genes whether or not to be active. It helps with the development of the heart, lungs, gut, etc. (Tetel-Andresen & Carter, 2016, p. 271)