What enables human language? A biocultural framework

Inbal Arnon, Liran Carmel, Nicolas Claidière, W Tecumseh Fitch, Susan Goldin-Meadow, Simon Kirby, Kazuo Okanoya, Limor Raviv, Lucie Wolters, Simon E Fisher

Explaining the origins of language is a key challenge in understanding ourselves as a species. We present an empirical framework that draws on synergies across fields to facilitate robust studies of language evolution. The approach is multi-faceted, seeing language emergence as dependent on the convergence of multiple capacities, each with their own evolutionary trajectories. It is explicitly bio-cultural, recognising and incorporating the importance of both biological preparedness and cultural transmission, as well as interactions between them. We illustrate this approach through three case studies examining the evolution of different facets involved in human language (vocal production learning, linguistic structure, social underpinnings).

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