Scientific American Sep 2018

58 Scientific American September 20 18

GENETIC CODE

THE LIST OF ABILITIES that were formerly thought to be a

unique part of human language is actually quite long.

It includes parts of language such as words. Vervet

monkeys use wordlike alarm calls to signal a specific

kind of danger. Another crucial aspect is structure. Be-

cause we have syntax we can produce an infinite

number of novel sentences and meanings and we can

understand sentences that we have never heard be-

fore. Yet zebra finches have complicated structure in

their songs dolphins can understand differences in

word order and even some monkeys in the wild seem

to use one type of call to modify another. The list ex-

tends to types of cognition such as theory of mind

which is the ability to infer others’ mental states. Dol-

phins and chimpanzees are excellent at guessing what

an interlocutor wants. Even the supposedly unique

ability to think about numbers falls by the wayside—

bees can understand the concept of zero bees and rhe-

sus monkeys can count to four and cormorants used

for fishing in China reportedly count to seven.

The list includes genes. The famous FOXP2 gene

once called a language gene is indeed a gene that af-

fects language—when it is mutated it disrupts artic-

ulation—but it performs other roles as well. There is

no easy way to tease out the different effects. Genes

are critical for understanding how language evolved

says Simon Fisher a geneticist at the Max Planck In-

stitute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen the Nether-

lands but “we have to think about what genes do.” To

put an incredibly complex process very briefly: genes

code for proteins which then affect cells which may

be brain cells that form neural circuits and it is those

circuits that are then responsible for behavior. “It

may be that there is a network of genes that are im-

portant for syntactic processing or speaking profi-

ciently” Fisher explains “but there won’t be a single

gene that can magically code for a suite of abilities.”

The list of no-longer-completely-unique human

traits includes brain mechanisms too. We are learn-

Evolution of Language

"D³øDxäšDþx` ̧­Ç§xĀäîßø`îøßxäjwhich

enable say English speakers to guess what

ÙU§øxžßD†xÚ­žšî­xD³xþx³ž…îšxāšDþx

³xþxßUx… ̧ßxx³` ̧ø³îxßxlîšDîÇDßîž`ø§Dß

` ̧­Už³Dîž ̧³ ̧…ÿ ̧ßläÍĀîx³äžþxäîølžxäUā

3ž­ ̧³!žßUā ̧…îšx7³žþxßäžîā ̧…lž³Uøߐš

D³l ̧îšxߧž³øžäîääøxäîîšDî§D³øDx

äîßø`îøßxlxߞþxä…ß ̧­ßxÇxDîxl§āø䞳

ÿ ̧ßläî ̧` ̧³þxāžlxDäîšß ̧øš­D³āx³-

xßDîž ̧³äͳD`žß`ø§DßÇß ̧`xääßxÇxDîxl

ž³³ø­xßDU§xxäj ̧³xäÇxD¦xßj ̧ßDx³îj

passes a concept on to others (^) ● 1 þžDÿšDî-
xþxßäîߞ³ ̧…ÿ ̧ßlääšx ̧ߚxšDäîšøä…Dß
§xDß³xlÍ5šxDUž§žîāî ̧îßD³ä­žîD³žlxD
̧šxßx³î§ālxÇx³lä ̧³ ̧³žîžþxDÇDžîžxä
ž³šxߞîxl…ß ̧­ÇDßx³îäÍ5šxßxžÇžx³îä ̧… äøîîxßD³xø³lxßäîD³lžîDäUxäîîšxā
D³D³l ̧³þxāžîî ̧ ̧îšxßä (^) ● 2 within the
̧­­ø³žîājD§ ̧³ÿžîšîšxžß ̧ÿ³­ ̧lž‰- Dîž ̧³äÍ5šxäxšD³xäD``ø­ø§Dîx ̧þxß x³xßDîž ̧³äž³îšxø§îøßxÍ3 ̧­x ̧³xÿš ̧
D³Uxîîxß­Däîxßîšxx­xߐž³lžä ̧øßäx
̧…îšx̧­­ø³žîāžäDääø­xlî ̧Ux­ ̧ßx §ž¦x§āî ̧ÇDää ̧³šžä ̧ߚxߐx³xäÍ5šxßx- … ̧ßxjÿžîšîž­xîšxD``ø­ø§Dîxlø§îøßD§
ßx‰³x­x³îä­Dāž³‹øx³xUž ̧§ ̧žD§
properties (^) ● 3 Í­Dąž³§āj…ß ̧­îšžäUDUx§
xþx³îøD§§āx­xߐxä ̧ßlxßjDäîšxäÇxD¦xßäj
all trying to learn the language as best they
D³j ̧³þxߐx ̧³D䞳§xjäîßøîøßxl§D³- øDxîšDîžäU ̧xDß³DU§xD³løäx…ø§… ̧ß ̧³þxāž³ž³… ̧ß­Dîž ̧³Í³äø­j§D³øDx
ž³D§§žîä̧­Ç§xĀžîāx­xߐxä…ß ̧­ø§îøßxÍ
SOURCE: “CULTURE AND BIOLOGY IN THE ORIGINS OF LINGUISTIC STRUCTURE” BY SIMON KIRBY IN
PSYCHONOMIC BULLETIN & REVIEW
VOL. 24 NO. 1; FEBRUARY 2017
Graphic by Federica Fragapane
³Džßø§DßÇß ̧xääßxÇxDîxlDîž ̧³äÍ5šxäx`šD³xäD``ø­ø§Dîx ̧þxß
BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION
INDIVIDUAL
LEARNING
AND USE
CULTURAL EVOLUTION
LANGUAGE
Culture may STRUCTURE
ultimately
mold biological
properties
Idea
conveyed
according to
a person’s
cognitive
and other
abilities
Other
individuals
with their
own capacities
retransmit
the idea using
the emerging
language
1
2
3