The Language Puzzle

April 8, 2024
In this fascinating analysis, archaeologist Mithen (The Singing Neanderthals) chronicles human ancestors’ progress from grunts and screams to jokes and poetry. Primate studies offer insight into the origins of language, Mithen contends, suggesting that chimpanzees’ combination of grunts, barks, and other noises in predictable sequences might indicate primitive syntax. Tracing how the physical evolution of the brain, tongue, throat, and ears gave hominins more intelligence and articulate vocal tracts, Mithen argues that by one million years ago homo erectus was likely uttering “iconic words,” whose sounds mimic features of the objects they describe (“Languages throughout the world use hard consonants for father, as in dad and pa, and soft, vowel-like consonants... for mother, as in mommy”). The Neanderthals developed bigger vocabularies and sentences governed by grammar, and were followed by homo sapiens, whose more sophisticated brains invented abstract words and metaphors that made language a font of cognitive creativity. In down-to-earth prose, Mithen weaves a wealth of genetic, linguistic, and paleoanthropological research into a coherent tapestry, with surprising revelations about Stone Age communication as well as present-day language. (Babies automatically process the frequency with which certain syllables follow each other to pick discrete words out of speech.) The result is a stimulating inquiry into the origins of language. Agent: George Lucas, InkWell Management.