The story of human language: it may not begin where you think.
Almost all animals communicate in some way. Ants use an array of chemical signalling, mammals
respond to specific odours, even bees use a body dances to communicate 1. But these
communications aren't languages. At least, not in the same way us humans do it.
Spoken communication offers an array of evolutionary advantages like commanding attention, and
communicating without needing to see each other 2. It also presupposes anatomical and cortical
developments to the vocal tract to allow complex articulations, as well as cognitive respiratory
control2.
However, the formulation of language as a voluntary, complex, rule based communication system is
understood to be uniquely human3,4. This unseen uniqueness in communication poses the long
standing question of how exactly did our language evolve?
Hand to mouth or mouth to mouth
There are two main theories surrounding how language originated with various conflicting evidence:
vocal-first and gesture-first.
The vocal-first theory understands non-specific vocal noises were eventually extrapolated into
distinct sound patterns to form language as we know it 2. It is supported by the use of vocal calls in
non-human primates (primates) to convey information to conspecifics 5. Moreover, primates have
displayed a possible precursor to syntax by combining vocal calls into units to convey different
meanings6.
The gesture first theory (vocal language originated from a pre-developed gestural language) 2 has
started to receive more attention2,7. Comparative studies demonstrate higher use of gestures and
success teaching gesture sign-language to primates than vocal languages 7,8, and uncanny similarities
between chimps and human children naturalistic gestures 8. Moreover, is able to explain some
inconsistencies in language evolution. For example, how signed language is just as rich as vocal
language and the extensive anatomical changes required for language only being developed 50,000
years ago2.
Previous research in this area have utilised different meanings between vocalisations and gestures,
and has drawn primarily on WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic) samples,
making studies difficult to compare 9,10. Gestures have higher 'iconicity' in that actions can easily
appear similar to what they describe perceptually ('driving' mimicked by acting hands on wheel) 11,12.
Spoken language is arbitrary (non-iconic) and provides symbols which distinguish between
objects/actions that appear similar in gestures 2,12. This is a significant consideration in comparative
gesture/vocalisation communication study designs as gestures have an 'iconicity' advantage over
vocalisations when testing communication success.
Step aside, gestures first!
A 2022 study by Fay et al. intends to address these limitations and provide solid support for the
gesture-first theory of language origin by offering gesture 'universality' as an alternate justification to
'iconicity'13.
Fay et al. tests humans ability to communicate using either vocalisations or gestures (producers).
Producers were to communicate a word using either non-linguistic vocalisation (without formulating
words) or with gestures limited to hand/body/facial expressions. The producer's vocal/gestural
signals were interpreted by a group of Australian undergraduates using a list of target words. Target
Almost all animals communicate in some way. Ants use an array of chemical signalling, mammals
respond to specific odours, even bees use a body dances to communicate 1. But these
communications aren't languages. At least, not in the same way us humans do it.
Spoken communication offers an array of evolutionary advantages like commanding attention, and
communicating without needing to see each other 2. It also presupposes anatomical and cortical
developments to the vocal tract to allow complex articulations, as well as cognitive respiratory
control2.
However, the formulation of language as a voluntary, complex, rule based communication system is
understood to be uniquely human3,4. This unseen uniqueness in communication poses the long
standing question of how exactly did our language evolve?
Hand to mouth or mouth to mouth
There are two main theories surrounding how language originated with various conflicting evidence:
vocal-first and gesture-first.
The vocal-first theory understands non-specific vocal noises were eventually extrapolated into
distinct sound patterns to form language as we know it 2. It is supported by the use of vocal calls in
non-human primates (primates) to convey information to conspecifics 5. Moreover, primates have
displayed a possible precursor to syntax by combining vocal calls into units to convey different
meanings6.
The gesture first theory (vocal language originated from a pre-developed gestural language) 2 has
started to receive more attention2,7. Comparative studies demonstrate higher use of gestures and
success teaching gesture sign-language to primates than vocal languages 7,8, and uncanny similarities
between chimps and human children naturalistic gestures 8. Moreover, is able to explain some
inconsistencies in language evolution. For example, how signed language is just as rich as vocal
language and the extensive anatomical changes required for language only being developed 50,000
years ago2.
Previous research in this area have utilised different meanings between vocalisations and gestures,
and has drawn primarily on WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic) samples,
making studies difficult to compare 9,10. Gestures have higher 'iconicity' in that actions can easily
appear similar to what they describe perceptually ('driving' mimicked by acting hands on wheel) 11,12.
Spoken language is arbitrary (non-iconic) and provides symbols which distinguish between
objects/actions that appear similar in gestures 2,12. This is a significant consideration in comparative
gesture/vocalisation communication study designs as gestures have an 'iconicity' advantage over
vocalisations when testing communication success.
Step aside, gestures first!
A 2022 study by Fay et al. intends to address these limitations and provide solid support for the
gesture-first theory of language origin by offering gesture 'universality' as an alternate justification to
'iconicity'13.
Fay et al. tests humans ability to communicate using either vocalisations or gestures (producers).
Producers were to communicate a word using either non-linguistic vocalisation (without formulating
words) or with gestures limited to hand/body/facial expressions. The producer's vocal/gestural
signals were interpreted by a group of Australian undergraduates using a list of target words. Target
