Speech origin

a review

Jan Wind

pp. 21-37

in: Jan Wind, Brunetto Chiarelli, Bernard Bichakjian, Alberto Nocentini, Abraham Jonker (eds), Language origin, Berlin, Springer, 1992

Abstract

A review is given of the various approaches that, during the last decades, have been used to solve the question of speech origin during the vertebrate evolution. First, the evolutionary history of the vocal organs is reconstructed by combining comparative anatomical and physiological data with paleontological ones. Subsequently, the latter are taken to reconstruct some other traits in ancestral species, like brain and skull base morphology. Archaeology contributes by its finds reflecting mental processes that have been present in our ancestors. Linguistics, since about one century deemed incapable to contribute, has experienced some revival. Primatological research that has come to flourish is briefly discussed as well as some other approaches that seem to be less fruitful.