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Why We Alone Have Language

This chapter explores how and why language evolved by asking what caused our ancestors to take the first steps away from the communication systems that other animals, particularly other primates, possess. It follows seven criteria for determining the validity of competing language evolution theories—seven benchmarks with which to evaluate alternative explanations for the original adaptive advantage conferred by early forms of language. These criteria are as follows: the theory must account for the honesty of early language; the theory should account for the cooperativeness of early language; the theory should explain how early languages could have been adaptive from the outset; the concepts proposed by the theory should be grounded in reality; the theory should explain the generality of language; the theory should account for the uniqueness of human language; and finally, the theory should explain why communication needed to be learned. This compilation of criteria is important because when considered together, they comprise a tough standard against which almost all of the previously proposed accounts fail.