The Study of Language This best-selling textbook provides an engaging and user-friendly introduction to
the study of language. Assuming no prior knowledge of the subject, Yule presents
information in bite-sized sections, clearly explaining the major concepts in linguistics –
from how children learn language to why men and women speak differently, through
all the key elements of language. This fifth edition has been revised and updated
with new figures and tables, additional topics, and numerous new examples using
languages from across the world. To increase student engagement, and to foster
problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, the book includes thirty new tasks. An
expanded and revised online study guide provides students with further resources,
including answers and tutorials for all tasks, while encouraging lively and proactive
learning. This is the most fundamental and easy-to-use introduction to the study
of language.
George Yule has taught Linguistics at the universities of Edinburgh, Hawai‘i,
Louisiana State and Minnesota.
The Study of Language FIFTH EDITION
George Yule
University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge.
It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of
education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence.
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Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107658172
First and second editions © Cambridge University Press 1985, 1996 Third, fourth and fifth editions © George Yule 2006, 2010, 2014
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 1985
Second edition 1996
Third edition 2006
Fourth edition 2010
Fifth edition 2014
Printed in the United Kingdom by MPG Printgroup Ltd, Cambridge
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Yule, George, 1947–
The study of language / George Yule. – 5th ed.
pages cm
Previous ed.: 2010.
ISBN 978-1-107-04419-7 (Hardback) – ISBN 978-1-107-65817-2 (Paperback)
1. Language and languages. 2. Linguistics. I. Title.
P107.Y85 2014
400–dc23 2013028557
ISBN 978-1-107-04419-7 Hardback
ISBN 978-1-107-65817-2 Paperback
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Contents
Preface xi
l1 The origins of language The divine source 2 The natural sound source 2
The “bow-wow” theory 3 The “pooh-pooh” theory 3
The social interaction source 3 The physical adaptation source 4
Teeth and lips 4 Mouth and tongue 5 Larynx and pharynx 5
The tool-making source 5 The human brain 6
The genetic source 6 Study questions 8 Tasks 8 Discussion topics/projects 9 Further reading 9
l2 Animals and human language Communication 12 Properties of human language 12
Displacement 13 Arbitrariness 13 Productivity 14 Cultural transmission 15 Duality 16
Talking to animals 16 Chimpanzees and language 17
Washoe 17 Sarah 18 Lana 19 The controversy 19 Kanzi 20
Using language 20 Study questions 22 Tasks 22 Discussion topics/projects 23 Further reading 24
l3 The sounds of language Phonetics 27 Voiced and voiceless sounds 27 Place of articulation 27 Consonants 28
Familiar symbols 28 Unfamiliar symbols 29
Consonants: manner of articulation 29
Stops 29 Fricatives 30 Affricates 30 Nasals 31 Liquids 31 Glides 31
A consonant chart 31 Glottal stops and flaps 31
Vowels 32 Diphthongs 33 Subtle individual variation 34 Study questions 35 Tasks 35 Discussion topics/projects 37 Further reading 37
l4 The sound patterns of language Phonology 40 Phonemes 40
Natural classes 41 Phones and allophones 41 Minimal pairs and sets 42 Phonotactics 43 Syllables 43
Consonant clusters 44 Coarticulation effects 44
Assimilation 45 Nasalization 45 Elision 46 Normal speech 46
Study questions 47 Tasks 47 Discussion topics/projects 48 Bob Belviso translated 49 Further reading 49
l5 Word formation Neologisms 51 Etymology 51 Borrowing 52
Loan-translation 52 Compounding 53
Blending 53 Clipping 54
Hypocorisms 54 Backformation 54
Conversion 55 Coinage 56
Acronyms 56 Derivation 57
Prefixes and suffixes 57 Infixes 57
Multiple processes 58 Study questions 59 Tasks 60 Discussion topics/projects 62 Further reading 63
l6 Morphology Morphology 66 Morphemes 66 Free and bound morphemes 66
Lexical and functional morphemes 67 Derivational morphemes 67 Inflectional morphemes 68
Morphological description 68 Problems in morphological description 69
Morphs and allomorphs 69 Other languages 70
Kanuri 70 Ganda 71 Ilocano 71 Tagalog 71
Study questions 73 Tasks 73 Discussion topics/projects 76 Further reading 78
l7 Grammar English grammar 80 Traditional grammar 80
The parts of speech 80 Agreement 81 Grammatical gender 82 Traditional analysis 83
The prescriptive approach 83 Captain Kirk’s infinitive 84
The descriptive approach 84 Structural analysis 85 Constituent analysis 85 Labeled and bracketed sentences 86 Hierarchical organization 87 A Gaelic sentence 87 Why study grammar? 88
Study questions 89 Tasks 89 Discussion topics/projects 92 Further reading 93
l8 Syntax Syntactic rules 95
A generative grammar 95 Deep and surface structure 96
Structural ambiguity 96 Tree diagrams 97
Tree diagram of an English sentence 97
Symbols used in syntactic analysis 98 Phrase structure rules 99 Lexical rules 100 Movement rules 101 Study questions 103 Tasks 104 Discussion topics/projects 106 Further reading 108
vi Contents
l9 Semantics Meaning 110 Semantic features 110
Words as containers of meaning 111
Semantic roles 112 Agent and theme 112 Instrument and experiencer 112 Location, source and goal 113
Lexical relations 113 Synonymy 113 Antonymy 114 Hyponymy 115 Prototypes 116 Homophones and homonyms 116 Polysemy 117 Word play 117 Metonymy 118
Collocation 118 Study questions 120 Tasks 120 Discussion topics/projects 123 Further reading 123
l10 Pragmatics Pragmatics 126 Context 127
Deixis 128 Reference 128
Inference 129 Anaphora 129 Presupposition 130
Speech acts 131 Direct and indirect speech acts 131
Politeness 132 Negative and positive face 133
Study questions 134 Tasks 134 Discussion topics/projects 136 Further reading 138
l11 Discourse analysis Discourse 140
Interpreting discourse 140 Cohesion 141 Coherence 142 Speech events 142
Conversation analysis 143 Turn-taking 143
The co-operative principle 144 Hedges 145 Implicatures 146
Background knowledge 146 Schemas and scripts 147
Study questions 149 Tasks 149 Discussion topics/projects 151 Further reading 152
l12 Language and the brain Neurolinguistics 155 Language areas in the brain 155
Broca’s area 156 Wernicke’s area 156 The motor cortex and the arcuate fasciculus 157 The localization view 157
Tongue tips and slips 158 The tip of the tongue phenomenon 158 Slips of the tongue 158 Slips of the brain 159 Slips of the ear 159
Aphasia 160 Broca’s aphasia 160 Wernicke’s aphasia 160 Conduction aphasia 161
Dichotic listening 161 Left brain, right brain 162
The critical period 163 Genie 163
Study questions 165 Tasks 165 Discussion topics/projects 166 Further reading 167
Contents vii
l13 First language acquisition Acquisition 170
Input 170 Caregiver speech 171
The acquisition schedule 171 Cooing 172 Babbling 172 The one-word stage 173 The two-word stage 173 Telegraphic speech 174
The acquisition process 174 Learning through imitation? 175 Learning through correction? 175
Developing morphology 176 Developing syntax 177
Forming questions 177 Forming negatives 178
Developing semantics 178 Later developments 179
Study questions 181 Tasks 181 Discussion topics/projects 183 Further reading 184
l14 Second language acquisition/learning Second language learning 187
Acquisition and learning 187 Acquisition barriers 187 The age factor 188 Affective factors 188
Focus on teaching method 189 The grammar–translation method 189 The audiolingual method 190 Communicative approaches 190
Focus on the learner 190 Transfer 191 Interlanguage 191 Motivation 192 Input and output 192 Task-based learning 193
Communicative competence 194 Applied linguistics 194 Study questions 196 Tasks 196 Discussion topics/projects 198 Further reading 198
l15 Gestures and sign languages Gestures 201
Iconics 201 Deictics 201 Beats 202
Types of sign languages 202 Oralism 203 Signed English 203 Origins of ASL 204 The structure of signs 204
Shape and orientation 205 Location 205 Movement 205 Primes 205 Facial expressions and finger-spelling 206
The meaning of signs 206 Representing signs 207 ASL as a natural language 208 Study questions 209 Tasks 209 Discussion topics/projects 210 Further reading 210
l16 Written language Writing 213
Pictograms 213 Ideograms 213 Logograms 214
Phonographic writing 215 The rebus principle 216
Syllabic writing 216 Alphabetic writing 217 Written English 218
English orthography 219 Study questions 221 Tasks 221 Discussion topics/projects 223 Further reading 224
viii Contents
l17 Language history and change Family trees 227 Indo-European 227
Cognates 228 Comparative reconstruction 228
General principles 229 Sound reconstruction 229 Word reconstruction 230
The history of English 230 Old English 231 Middle English 231
Sound changes 232 Metathesis 233 Epenthesis 233 Prothesis 234
Syntactic changes 234 Loss of inflections 234
Semantic changes 235 Broadening of meaning 235 Narrowing of meaning 235
Diachronic and synchronic variation 236 Study questions 237 Tasks 237 Discussion topics/projects 239 Further reading 240
l18 Regional variation in language The standard language 243 Accent and dialect 243
Variation in grammar 244 Dialectology 244
Regional dialects 244 Isoglosses and dialect boundaries 245 The dialect continuum 246
Bilingualism 247 Diglossia 248
Language planning 249 Pidgins 250 Creoles 251
The post-creole continuum 251
Study questions 252 Tasks 252
Discussion topics/projects 254 Further reading 254
l19 Social variation in language Sociolinguistics 257
Social dialects 257 Education and occupation 257 Social markers 259
Speech style and style-shifting 259 Prestige 260
Speech accommodation 261 Convergence 261 Divergence 261
Register 261 Jargon 262
Slang 262 Taboo terms 263
African American English 263 Vernacular language 263 The sounds of a vernacular 264 The grammar of a vernacular 264
Study questions 266 Tasks 266 Discussion topics/projects 268 Further reading 268
l20 Language and culture Culture 271 Categories 271
Kinship terms 272 Time concepts 272
Linguistic relativity 273 The Sapir–Whorf hypothesis 273 Against the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis 274 Snow 274 Non-lexicalized categories 275
Cognitive categories 275 Classifiers 276
Social categories 276 Address terms 277
Gender 278 Gendered words 278
Contents ix
Gendered structures 279 Gendered speech 279 Same-gender talk 280 Gendered interaction 280
Study questions 281 Tasks 281
Discussion topics/projects 284 Further reading 284
Glossary 286 References 300 Index 312
x Contents
Preface
In this new edition
For all their advice and suggestions for improvements to the fifth edition of this book,
I’d like to thank the reviewers, instructors, students and researchers who have
commented on earlier versions. I have made a number of revisions in the internal
organization of all the chapters, with a clearer division into major topics and subsec-
tions. Additional section headings have been included to make the material more
accessible and a number of extra examples from everyday language use are offered
to make some of the points clearer. There are also more substantial revisions in
Chapters 3 (Phonetics), 4 (Phonology), 5 (Word formation) and 8 (Syntax) that
should make these units more manageable. I hope these revisions will make the book
more informative, easier to read, and overall more user-friendly.
In addition, there are thirty new tasks. The majority of these are data-based and
designed to foster problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. New examples from
languages as diverse as German, Hawaiian, Hungarian, Lakhota, Proto-Polynesian,
Quechua, Spanish and Tamasheq provide an opportunity to explore further aspects of
languages other than English. Additional topics explored in the study of the English
language include adjective order, adverb position in sentences, American and British
differences, compounds, general extenders, the presuppositions of jokes, recasts,
stylistics, synecdoche and vague language. An expanded and revised Study Guide
providing answers and tutorials for all the tasks can be found on the book’s website:
www.cambridge.org/yule.
To the student
In The Study of Language, I have tried to present a comprehensive survey of what is
known about language and also of the methods used by linguists in arriving at that
knowledge. There have been many interesting developments in the study of language
over the past two decades, but it is still a fact that any individual speaker of a language
has a more comprehensive “unconscious” knowledge of how language works than any
linguist has yet been able to describe. Consequently, as you read each of the following
chapters, take a critical view of the effectiveness of the descriptions, the analyses, and
the generalizations by measuring them against your own intuitions about how your
language works. By the end of the book, you should feel that you do know quite a lot
http://www.cambridge.org/yule
about both the internal structure of language (its form) and the varied uses of language
in human life (its function), and also that you are ready to ask more of the kinds of
questions that professional linguists ask when they conduct their research.
At the end of each chapter, there is a section where you can test and apply what
you have learned. This section contains:
� Study questions that you can use to check if you have understood some of the main points and important terms introduced during that chapter
� Tasks that extend the topics covered in the book, mostly through data analysis, with examples from English and a wide range of other languages
� Discussion topics/projects that offer opportunities to consider some of the more general, sometimes controversial, language-related topics and to develop your own
opinions on issues involving language
� Further reading suggestions provided to help you find more detailed treatments of all the topics covered in that chapter
The origins of this book can be traced to introductory courses on language taught at
the University of Edinburgh, the University of Minnesota and Louisiana State Univer-
sity, and to the suggestions and criticisms of hundreds of students who forced me to
present what I had to say in a way they could understand. An early version of the
written material was developed for Independent Study students at the University of
Minnesota. Later versions have had the benefit of expert advice from a lot of teachers
working with diverse groups in different situations. I am particularly indebted to
Professor Hugh Buckingham, Louisiana State University, for sharing his expertise
and enthusiasm over many years as a colleague and friend.
For feedback and advice in the preparation of recent editions of the book, I would
like to thank Jean Aitchison (University of Oxford), Linda Blanton (University of New
Orleans), Karen Currie (Federal University of Espı́ritu Santo), Mary Anna Dimitrako-
poulos (Indiana University, South Bend), Thomas Field (University of Maryland,
Baltimore), Anthony Fox (University of Leeds), Agustinus Gianto (Pontifical Biblical
Institute), Gordon Gibson (University of Paisley), Katinka Hammerich (University of
Hawai‘i), Raymond Hickey (University of Duisburg–Essen), Daniel Hieber (Rosetta
Stone), Richard Hirsch (Linköping University), Fiona Joseph (University of Wolver-
hampton), Eliza Kitis (Aristotle University), Terrie Mathis (California State University,
Northridge), Stephen Matthews (University of Hong Kong), Robyn Najar (Flinders
University), Eric Nelson (University of Minnesota), Jens Reinke (Christian Albrecht
University Kiel), Philip Riley (University of Nancy 2), Rick Santos (Fresno City
College), Joanne Scheibman (Old Dominion University), Royal Skousen (Brigham
Young University), Michael Stubbs (University of Trier), Mary Talbot (University of
Sunderland) and Sherman Wilcox (University of New Mexico).
For my own introductory course, I remain indebted to Willie and Annie Yule, and,
for my continuing enlightenment, to Maryann Overstreet.
xii Preface
CHAPTER 1
The origins of language
The suspicion does not appear improbable that the progenitors of man, either the males
or females, or both sexes, before they had acquired the power of expressing their mutual love
in articulate language, endeavoured to charm each other with musical notes and rhythm.
Darwin (1871)
In Charles Darwin’s vision of the origins of language, early humans had already
developed musical ability prior to language and were using it “to charm each other.”
This may not match the typical image that most of us have of our early ancestors as
rather rough characters wearing animal skins and not very charming, but it is an
interesting speculation about how language may have originated. It remains,
however, a speculation.
We simply don’t know how language originated. We do know that the ability
to produce sound and simple vocal patterning (a hum versus a grunt, for example)
appears to be in an ancient part of the brain that we share with all vertebrates,
including fish, frogs, birds and other mammals. But that isn’t human language. We
suspect that some type of spoken languagemust have developed between 100,000 and
50,000 years ago, well before written language (about 5,000 years ago). Yet, among
the traces of earlier periods of life on earth, we never find any direct evidence or
artifacts relating to the speech of our distant ancestors that might tell us how language
was back in the early stages. Perhaps because of this absence of direct physical evidence,
there has been no shortage of speculation about the origins of human speech.
The divine source
In the biblical tradition, as described in the book of Genesis, God created Adam and
“whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.”Alternatively,
following a Hindu tradition, language came from Sarasvati, wife of Brahma, creator of the
universe. In most religions, there appears to be a divine source who provides humans
with language. In an attempt to rediscover this original divine language, a fewexperiments
have been carried out, with rather conflicting results. The basic hypothesis seems to have
been that, if human infantswere allowed to growupwithout hearing any language around
them, then they would spontaneously begin using the original God-given language.
The Greek writer Herodotus reported the story of an Egyptian pharaoh named
Psammetichus (or Psamtik) who tried the experiment with two newborn babies more
than 2,500 years ago. After two years of isolation except for the company of goats and a
mute shepherd, the children were reported to have spontaneously uttered, not an
Egyptian word, but something that was identified as the Phrygian word bekos, meaning
“bread.” The pharaoh concluded that Phrygian, an older language spoken in part ofwhat
is modern Turkey, must be the original language. That seems very unlikely. The children
may not have picked up this “word” from any human source, but as several commen-
tators have pointed out, they must have heard what the goats were saying. (First remove
the -kos ending,whichwas added in theGreek version of the story, then pronounce be- as
you would the English word bed without -d at the end. Can you hear a goat?)
King James the Fourth of Scotland carried out a similar experiment around the
year 1500 and the children were reported to have spontaneously started speaking
Hebrew, confirming the king’s belief that Hebrew had indeed been the language of the
Garden of Eden. It is unfortunate that all other cases of children who have been
discovered living in isolation, without coming into contact with human speech, tend
not to confirm the results of these types of divine-source experiments. Very young
children living without access to human language in their early years grow up with no
language at all. This was true of Victor, the wild boy of Aveyron in France, discovered
near the end of the eighteenth century, and also of Genie, an American child whose
special life circumstances came to light in the 1970s (see Chapter 12). From this type
of evidence, there is no “spontaneous” language. If human language did emanate
from a divine source, we have no way of reconstructing that original language,
especially given the events in a place called Babel, “because the Lord did there
confound the language of all the earth,” as described in Genesis (11: 9).
The natural sound source
A quite different view of the beginnings of language is based on the concept of natural
sounds. The human auditory system is already functioning before birth (at around
2 The Study of Language
seven months). That early processing capacity develops into an ability to identify
sounds in the environment, allowing humans to make a connection between a sound
and the thing producing that sound. This leads to the idea that primitive words derive
from imitations of the natural sounds that early men and women heard around them.
Among several nicknames that he invented to talk about the origins of speech,
Jespersen (1922) called this idea the “bow-wow” theory.
The “bow-wow” theory
In this scenario, when different objects flew by, making a Caw-Caw or Coo-Coo
sound, the early human tried to imitate the sounds and then used them to refer to
those objects even when they weren’t present. The fact that all modern languages
have some words with pronunciations that seem to echo naturally occurring sounds
could be used to support this theory. In English, in addition to cuckoo, we have splash,
bang, boom, rattle, buzz, hiss, screech, and of course bow-wow.
Words that sound similar to the noises they describe are examples of
onomatopeia. While it is true that a number of words in any language are onomato-
poeic, it is hard to see how most of the soundless things (e.g. “low branch”) as well as
abstract concepts (e.g. “truth”) could have been referred to in a language that simply
echoed natural sounds. We might also be rather skeptical about a view that seems to
assume that a language is only a set of words used as “names” for things.
The “pooh-pooh” theory
Another of Jespersen’s nicknames was the “pooh-pooh” theory, which proposed that
speech developed from the instinctive sounds people make in emotional circum-
stances. That is, the original sounds of language may have come from natural cries
of emotion such as pain, anger and joy. By this route, presumably, Ouch! came to have
its painful connotations. But Ouch! and other interjections such as Ah!, Ooh!, Phew!,
Wow! or Yuck! are usually produced with sudden intakes of breath, which is the
opposite of ordinary talk. We normally produce spoken language as we breath out, so
we speak while we exhale, not inhale. In other words, the expressive noises people
make in emotional reactions contain sounds that are not otherwise used in speech
production and consequently would seem to be rather unlikely candidates as source
sounds for language.
The social interaction source
Another proposal involving natural sounds was nicknamed the “yo-he-ho” theory.
The idea is that the sounds of a person involved in physical effort could be the source
of our language, especially when that physical effort involved several people and the
The origins of language 3
interaction had to be coordinated. So, a group of early humans might develop a set of
hums, grunts, groans and curses that were used when they were lifting and carrying
large bits of trees or lifeless hairy mammoths.
The appeal of this proposal is that it places the development of human language in
a social context. Early people must have lived in groups, if only because larger groups
offered better protection from attack. Groups are necessarily social organizations and,
to maintain those organizations, some form of communication is required, even if it is
just grunts and curses. So, human sounds, however they were produced, must have
had some principled use within the life and social interaction of early human groups.
This is an important idea that may relate to the uses of humanly produced sounds. It
does not, however, answer our question regarding the origins of the sounds produced.
Apes and other primates live in social groups and use grunts and social calls, but they
do not seem to have developed the capacity for speech.
The physical adaptation source
Instead of looking at types of sounds as the source of human speech, we can look at
the types of physical features humans possess, especially those that are distinct from
other creatures, which may have been able to support speech production. We can start
with the observation that, at some early stage, our ancestors made a very significant
transition to an upright posture, with bi-pedal (on two feet) locomotion, and a revised
role for the front limbs.
Some effects of this type of change can be seen in physical differences between the
skull of a gorilla and that of a Neanderthal man from around 60,000 years ago. The
reconstructed vocal tract of a Neanderthal suggests that some consonant-like sound
distinctions would have been possible. We have to wait until about 35,000 years ago
for features in reconstructions of fossilized skeletal structures that begin to resemble
those of modern humans. In the study of evolutionary development, there are certain
physical features, best thought of as partial adaptations, which appear to be relevant
for speech. They are streamlined versions of features found in other primates. By
themselves, such features wouldn’t guarantee speech, but they are good clues that a
creature with such features probably has the capacity for speech.
Teeth and lips
Human teeth are upright, not slanting outwards like those of apes, and they are
roughly even in height. Such characteristics are not very useful for ripping or tearing
food and seem better adapted for grinding and chewing. They are also very helpful in
making sounds such as f or v. Human lips have much more intricate muscle inter-
lacing than is found in other primates and their resulting flexibility certainly helps in
making sounds like p, b and m. In fact, the b and m sounds are the most widely
4 The Study of Language
attested in the vocalizations made by human infants during their first year, no matter
which language their parents are using.
Mouth and tongue
The human mouth is relatively small compared to other primates and can be opened
and closed rapidly. It is also part of an extended vocal tract that has much more of an
L-shape than the fairly straight path from front to back in other mammals. In contrast
to the fairly thin flat tongue of other large primates, humans have a shorter, thicker
and more muscular tongue that can be used to shape a wide variety of sounds inside
the oral cavity. In addition, unlike other primates, humans can close off the airway
through the nose to create more air pressure in the mouth. The overall effect of these
small differences taken together is a face with more intricate muscle interlacing in the
lips and mouth, capable of a wider range of shapes and a more rapid and powerful
delivery of sounds produced through these different shapes.
Larynx and pharynx
The human larynx or “voice box” (containing the vocal folds or vocal cords) differs
significantly in position from the larynx of other primates such as monkeys. In the
course of human physical development, the assumption of an upright posture moved
the head more directly above the spinal column and the larynx dropped to a lower
position. This created a longer cavity called the pharynx, above the vocal folds,
which acts as a resonator for increased range and clarity of the sounds produced via
the larynx and the vocal tract. Other primates have almost no pharynx. One unfortu-
nate consequence of this development is that the lower position of the human larynx
makes it much more possible for the human to choke on pieces of food. Monkeys
may not be able to use their larynx to produce speech sounds, but they do not suffer
from the problem of getting food stuck in their windpipe. In evolutionary terms, there
must have been a big advantage in getting this extra vocal power (i.e. a larger range
of sounds) to outweigh the potential disadvantage from an increased risk of choking
to death.
The tool-making source
In the physical adaptation view, one function (producing speech sounds) must have
been superimposed on existing anatomical features (teeth, lips) previously used for
other purposes (chewing, sucking). A similar development is believed to have taken
place with human hands and some believe that manual gestures may have been a
precursor of language. By about two million years ago, there is evidence that humans
had developed preferential right-handedness and had become capable of making
The origins of language 5
stone tools. Wood tools and composite tools eventually followed. Tool-making, or the
outcome of manipulating objects and changing them using both hands, is evidence of
a brain at work.
The human brain