| as a layperson, i have a hunch that language first developed as a defense mechanism against predators, and continued (perhaps more rapidly) with the proliferation of hunting weapons and methods. an article/thesis from last year claims to have decoded gibbon vocalizations for distinct predators, as well as what the predators were doing [1]. and a while back i remember reading a theory that consumption of animal-based protein increased the brain size of early humans. barring a monolith [2] my guess is that crude hunting tools provided more brain food for less work which, in turn, led to the development of more sophisticated tools and hunting methods. so if the presence of predators caused early humans to develop simple words and grammar, perhaps a better-fueled brain, as well as the desire to teach and learn better tool development/use and hunting methods, expanded and improved this early grammar into something that could be used to communicate (e.g.) abstractions. as a layperson, this process would seem to involve more than the mutation of one gene (e.g. FOXP_{2}), it would seem to involve lots of stuff: chemicals related to fear, stress, changes in diet, group dynamics, and so forth. [1] http://search.library.wisc.edu/catalog/ocn888412908 [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM6OIlreneA |