When Was Talking Invented? A Language Scientist Explains How This Unique Feature of Human Beings May Have Evolved
It’s testament to the powers of the storytelling brain that many psychologists argue that human language evolved in the first place in order to tell tales about each other.
Will Storr • The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better
Based on discoveries of ancient hyoid bones, which are the bones that provide support for the larynx and anchorage for the tongue and other muscles required for speaking, researchers believe that as long as 300,000 years ago our ancestors had the ability to speak as we do now.
No other primate has a larynx low enough to produce sounds as complex as ... See more
No other primate has a larynx low enough to produce sounds as complex as ... See more
Sally Mallam • The Evolution of Storytelling
In primeval times, when people lived within nature, they needed to protect themselves, and so they were sensitive to the frequencies and sounds generated by nature, in order to detect danger before it could sneak up on them. The sound of the wind blowing, the sound of water flowing, the sound of an animal walking through the grass—the ability to un
... See moreMasaru Emoto • The Hidden Messages in Water
We’ll never know exactly how these early hominids communicated, but it is obvious that they did. It is certain that they handed down experiences and knowledge, aided by facial gestures and vocal sounds. In this way, mimesis would eventually have led speech to emerge as the dominant mode of communication.