Most people feel rather uneasy when reminded that we share 90% of our DNA with our ape
ancestors. The idea that we evolved from monkeys was Darwin's most controversial claim in …

This book explores the origin and evolution of speech. The human speech system is in a
league of its own in the animal kingdom and its possession dwarfs most other evolutionary …

Infants acquire language like clockwork. Whether a baby is born in Stockholm, Tokyo,
Zimbabwe or Seattle, at 3 months of age, a typically developing infant will coo. At about 7 …

Language is amazingly useful. We use it to talk about things that are not present, to
communicate abstract concepts and thoughts in our heads, and even (through writing) to …

Why do humans have language at all and how did we become language users? These are
central questions in language evolution, but no general consensus exists on the answers …

Compares nonhuman primates and human infants with regard to key abilities that provide
the foundation for language. It makes the case for phylogenetic continuity across species …

Does speech—that uniquely human trait—come from our genes, or is it learned? Luminaries
such as linguist Noam Chomsky of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have …

The acquisition of language and speech looks deceptively simple. Young children learn to
speak rapidly and effortlessly, from babbling at 6 months of age to full sentences by the age …

All peoples today have language and speech. Long ago, our distant pre-human ancestors
did not have language, and could not speak. Between then and now, our language faculties …

The study of human infant vocal development has yielded new perspectives on how the
capacity for speech is built, and has provided important suggestions about the paths that our …