Did Genetic Mutation Give Early Humans the Gift of Speech? When Did It Start and How Did It Evolve?

 1.

Language plays the biggest role behind human civilization and society. It does not seem possible to build this civilization if we were not able to communicate meaningfully among ourselves. We can understand this only by looking at other animals.

There are many stories about how this language came into being. One such famous story is one that almost all of us have probably read or heard in our childhood. Especially grammar books used to have this story. But this story is not directly about the origin of language, but about the origin of different languages.

Artist's Eye Tower of Babylon; Image Source: Phillip Medhurst

According to the story, the people of ancient Babylon thought to build a tower. The tower will touch the sky. People thought that God resides beyond the blue sky. Therefore, if you build a tower, you can directly reach God and talk to him. But after the work of the tower was far away, the creator thought, it cannot be allowed to continue like this!

One day people went to fetch bricks and stones. When they came to the tower, they realized that no one could understand anyone else's words. God actually taught each person a different language. But if no one understands, how will the work of the tower proceed! The tower collapsed. The creator remained elusive beyond the sky. Meanwhile, various languages ​​spread among the people.

There are many gaps in this story. Various questions can be asked about the story. But it is not our intention to ask those questions. Our aim is to look into this matter. Trying to understand what really happened. But we will do this work with the eyes of science, based on evidence.
So we must go back to the ancient world. The talk of the world has come back in human history, in fiction.

2 .

The point is, shall we start from the beginning? Quickly go back to that world? I will try to think, what people were doing at that time? Ugh, that can't be done. Logic tells us, we should try to see the whole thing from the other side. Gradually the data base has to go back to the time when the language started.
The point is, how do scientists do it? Meaning, the language has left no more fossils that its history can be extracted by fossil analysis, carbon dating. It's true. But an analysis of the body structure of our ancestors shows that they gradually turned towards communication. That mark is emerging continuously on their body. Also we can see its impression in the various things they left behind. Based on these sources, scientists have tried to understand the story of the beginning of language.

As I said earlier, it should be done in reverse. As such, this is the first evidence of human writing. There is no need to tell the language that the one who can write can speak. But unfortunately, the history of human writing begins only a few thousand years ago. That means, it can't take us very far. That's why 19th century scientists thought that finding out the origin of language is beyond human ability. He didn't stop just thinking. In 1866, the Paris Linguistic Society banned discussion and research on this topic. Well, researching will be a sin, not like that. They felt that working on this was just a waste of time.
Hopefully, curious people have never stopped thinking it would be a waste of time or money. That's why man was able to step on the moon. Man-made spacecraft have crossed the boundaries of the solar system. Similarly, about a hundred years later, biologists and evolutionary theorists thought that there was no point in leaving language behind. We need to know the history of this important aspect of our life and civilization. That is why it is necessary to get down to work. But how?

No fossils, not enough clues. The writing also started a few days ago. So the way? Scientists think After thinking about it, they went back to that apt sentence. Work together in ten, lose-win not shame! Biology alone may not happen. But what about the rest of the branches of science? In the end, the scientists entered the field with archeology, anthropology, language science and cognitive science - all together. Finally got the result Through this, not only one, but two important problems of finding human language were solved together.

cave paintings of ancient people; Image Source: frontiersin.org

3.

 About forty thousand years ago. People then painted cave paintings. We have seen such pictures. We can understand that there was thought, culture and abstract thought behind those pictures. This is exactly what language needs, isn't it? So, from a few thousand years to forty thousand years we came back. The thing is, did the language emerge at this time?

may be No-maybe! Simply put, all is well, but this explanation alone is not enough. That means more evidence is needed. That is why we can look at the human society of that time.
All this can be assumed that language emerged among humans four hundred thousand years ago.

If we look at human history, we will see that forty thousand years ago people were not in one place. Gotras or different groups are divided and spread in different directions. That means, if language originated at this time, then there must have been some changes in all people in different parts of the world simultaneously or at short intervals. It will not only be the creation of the capacity to think, but also the mental and physical capacity for expression and therefore the necessary changes in the body. From this we can come to a logical conclusion.

Humans must have learned language earlier. That's why they learned to think abstractly and draw them on cave walls. So what happened? There were languages ​​in the world at that time, maybe people of different tribes or groups spoke different languages; But the origin did not happen then. Happened much earlier, in much more primitive worlds.

4.

 Apras came before humans in the primitive world. This pest had large air sacs in its throat. With this they used to make a 'goon goon' type of sound to frighten the opponent or other animals. The problem is, such air sacs prevent the pronunciation of vowels. But the scientists did not say it as desired. Bert de Bohr, a scientist at the Free University of Brussels in Belgium, demonstrated the simulation. But the vowel behind human language, as it is called, is necessary.

Apes did have such air sacs, but Homo heidelbergensis did not. Scientists believe that Neanderthals and Sapiens later came from this Homo heidelbergensis. Homo heidelbergensis lived on Earth about seven million years ago. That is, even if there was no language in the world at that time, several necessary elements for the creation of language had arrived by then.

Neanderthal; Image Source: theguardian.com

If we think about modern humans, many nerves are connected from the brain through the spine to the muscles between the diaphragm and the ribs. They play an important role in proper breathing control and accurate sounding. This same thing is seen in Neanderthals.

An important change is also seen in the inner ear of these two species. As a result, both species have developed great sensitivity within the ear within the range of human spoken sound frequencies. Listening and understanding the different meanings is essential for speaking. We can see a very simple example of this right now. Those who cannot speak, cannot hear. Because, if you can't express it by listening, the brain can't take this load. Again, it is somehow impossible to develop the necessary capacity to speak without listening.

However, there is one more thing to talk about. The FOXP2 gene. It works in the part of the brain that controls speech. Many mammals have it. But this gene is slightly improved in humans. That is why we can control the movements necessary for language in the face and face. Neanderthals also had this gene, but were not as advanced.

These facts point us to a time. From this it can be said that language originated in the world approximately four hundred thousand years ago. By that time, people were trying to communicate with each other. The necessary physical ability has come into him. Gradually the ability to think is also increasing. That is why it has become necessary to express these thoughts. As a result, language was created.

 Homo erectus; Image Source: study.com

But even earlier, about two million years ago, when Homo erectus hunted, they made various tools to do so. So they also knew what language? Maybe he knew. Maybe didn't know. But scientists are fairly certain that the language was not the language of modern humans. Primitive forms of human language, perhaps not even language at all - may have existed at that time.

All this can be assumed that language emerged among humans four hundred thousand years ago. And, that language has become more and more day by day. Again, language became distorted due to the division of people into groups or tribes. That's how many different languages ​​have been created. But no matter how much we try to separate, if we look closely we can still find similarities between different languages, words with close pronunciation and meaning. All this points to us having a common language. What is surprising is that a common language will start with a common language!

Period of origin of language

5.

The period of origin of the language was not found. But the thing is, how did this language come about? It is understood that the origin of language is for communication. But why did people start to feel this urge? This question is the second question about the discovery of human language. (What was the first question, does it need to be told separately? Let me also say that. The question is, when did the origin of language take place? In fact, if we cannot find out the answer to this question, why did people feel this urge at that time? hard to do.)

There are three possible answers to this question. Charles Darwin gave the first answer. The gentleman said that various animals are seen doing strange things as a mate selection strategy. People wanted to do something like that. As a result, something like a protolanguage or 'primitive language' developed. However, this original language had no direct meaning. For example, the call of birds.

gibbon; Image Source: nationalgeographic.com

Men used that language to attract women. To get ahead of the competition, they think more about the original language, and try to produce more complex and melodious sounds. This is how language develops. Darwin cited Gibbons as an example. These primates also sing like this to attract female gibbons. Some later based on this assumption, only men can do this. Women might also want to attract men in the same way.

But if that's the case, the resulting babies are supposed to be way ahead of the rest. They are supposed to get any additional features or benefits. Again, the same thing must happen in all the tribes or groups spread out in different directions. Considering all these things, Darwin's answer does not seem to be correct.

But based on this idea, the second answer or concept is developed. Scientists have noticed that people, even the blind, usually try to communicate by waving their hands. So, 'Adibhasha' may not have been developed based on tone, but on posture. That matter still remains with us. Maybe that's why we still make hand or shoulder gestures when we don't understand something. Again, this posture can have a positive effect on mate selection. For example, we are attracted by people's posture during speech. I was attracted by the dancing mudra. The explanation of these matters is also available to some extent.

If you look again, you will see that several other animals also make small gestures. Humans may have taken this attitude further as they learned to think. And we know that gestures can communicate perfectly. Many deaf-mutes communicate this way.

While great thinking, this proposal also has a major problem. How did tone-based language come from this form-based language?

As a result, scientists thought of a third idea or answer. This idea can best explain language at present. This is called onomatopoeia. Meaning, try to imitate a sound after hearing it. Human children can still be seen trying to pronounce such words when they hear them.

If people do not have enough sense to speak the language, it is not very difficult to be able to imitate it by listening. As I said earlier, the physical ability to pronounce sounds came to humans by the time language came. Moreover, from some new studies, scientists have learned that other primates can also control breathing and throat movements quite well.

Logically we can make a hypothesis from the matter. Humans have learned to imitate the calls of various animals by listening to them. Tools had to be made to survive against those creatures. Also, there is a need to warn others if you see an animal like a tiger coming. What could be easier than mimicking the roar of a tiger to warn your people?

 By that, people can identify different animals. Again, gradually trying to change between these sounds or calls. Another good thing is that it is possible to lure and trap various animals by mimicking their calls. In this way, people gradually learned to understand meaningful sounds. Learned to understand, if you want through sound, you can explain something to others.

At the same time, people were also learning gestures. It is, however, highly innate (in animals other than humans). Moreover, even while making tools, people were able to understand the technique of moving the hands and feet in a meaningful way. Thus, language started to develop over time.

At one time, perhaps people learned to sing while sitting by the fire at night, imitating animal calls for fun, or making their own sense of it. Realized that by controlling the rhythm of the throat, meaningful sounds can be made more melodious.

When we hear someone singing, we also join our voices; Image Source: pinkvilla.com
Scientists think that singing this song has a very big role. The sense of 'we' or group is not expressed in ordinary sentences. That can be easily done in music. If one sings, the others can join in. It is actually part of our instincts. That's why when we listen to music, we also want to join in. I sing the same sentence in my mind even if I don't say it.

Jerome Lewis, an anthropologist at University College, London, believes that this is how language developed. And, if this proposition is true, it can explain the origin of language and music as well as the time of their origin. And, if we get the time of this origin, we will be able to make a rough estimate of the impact on the language day by day and how the language has changed.

Words may not leave fossils, leave no trace. But even after all these years, we have found clues to write its history. It may take some more time, but we can definitely write the history of the language. Its influence on human history and its changing direction over time. In fact, that is why scientists are constantly trying to understand the story of language.

Because, without the history of language, human history is not complete in any way.