From Grunts to Grammar: the Evolution of Language

by Jeanne Milller

Odyssey: Adventures in Science

English speakers get sentence sense from word order, while other languages use word endings or beginnings. Grammar is very important: it allows humans to express complicated thoughts, and therefore communicate more easily. To find out when language first started, fossils of early humans are indispensable because molds of brains and skulls show how brain size and complexity changed over the course of time. With this type of evidence, it is possible that, 2 1/2 million years ago, Homo habilis probably had at least the beginnings of speech and language capabilities.

What changes language capabilities is the larynx, the voice box. "The larynx contains the vocal cords that allow us to produce sounds from out throat." Most mammals' larynges sit high in the throat, connecting with nasal passages, and although the animals can breathe and swallow at the same time, they cannot make very many different sounds.

Evolution made human larynges sink lower down in the throat. This happened around 1 1/2 million years ago, and allowed humans to breathe through their noses and mouth, instead of only their noses. This meant that humans could run longer, and most importantly, lower larynges meant that as noises traveled up the throat, its muscles could modify the sound, making a wide range of possible sounds for humans.

Many years ago, when life was simple enough, with simple hunting and simple tools, language was not required. But as life began to get more complicated, man needed to communicate. This is probably the cause of the invention of language.

Miller, Jeanne. "From Grunts to Grammar: The Evolution of Language." Odyssey: Adventures in Science Oct. 2009: 34-36. Print.