Earth Science News
ABOUT US
When did human language emerge?
illustration only
When did human language emerge?
by Peter Dizikes | MIT News
Boston MA (SPX) Mar 17, 2025

It is a deep question, from deep in our history: When did human language as we know it emerge? A new survey of genomic evidence suggests our unique language capacity was present at least 135,000 years ago. Subsequently, language might have entered social use 100,000 years ago.

Our species, Homo sapiens, is about 230,000 years old. Estimates of when language originated vary widely, based on different forms of evidence, from fossils to cultural artifacts. The authors of the new analysis took a different approach. They reasoned that since all human languages likely have a common origin - as the researchers strongly think - the key question is how far back in time regional groups began spreading around the world.

"The logic is very simple," says Shigeru Miyagawa, an MIT professor and co-author of a new paper summarizing the results. "Every population branching across the globe has human language, and all languages are related." Based on what the genomics data indicate about the geographic divergence of early human populations, he adds, "I think we can say with a fair amount of certainty that the first split occurred about 135,000 years ago, so human language capacity must have been present by then, or before."

The paper, "Linguistic capacity was present in the Homo sapiens population 135 thousand years ago," appears in Frontiers in Psychology. The co-authors are Miyagawa, who is a professor emeritus of linguistics and the Kochi-Manjiro Professor of Japanese Language and Culture at MIT; Rob DeSalle, a principal investigator at the American Museum of Natural History's Institute for Comparative Genomics; Vitor Augusto Nobrega, a faculty member in linguistics at the University of Sao Paolo; Remo Nitschke, of the University of Zurich, who worked on the project while at the University of Arizona linguistics department; Mercedes Okumura of the Department of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Sao Paulo; and Ian Tattersall, curator emeritus of human origins at the American Museum of Natural History.

The new paper examines 15 genetic studies of different varieties, published over the past 18 years: Three used data about the inherited Y chromosome, three examined mitochondrial DNA, and nine were whole-genome studies.

All told, the data from these studies suggest an initial regional branching of humans about 135,000 years ago. That is, after the emergence of Homo sapiens, groups of people subsequently moved apart geographically, and some resulting genetic variations have developed, over time, among the different regional subpopulations. The amount of genetic variation shown in the studies allows researchers to estimate the point in time at which Homo sapiens was still one regionally undivided group.

Miyagawa says the studies collectively provide increasingly converging evidence about when these geographic splits started taking place. The first survey of this type was performed by other scholars in 2017, but they had fewer existing genetic studies to draw upon. Now, there are much more published data available, which when considered together point to 135,000 years ago as the likely time of the first split.

The new meta-analysis was possible because "quantity-wise we have more studies, and quality-wise, it's a narrower window [of time]," says Miyagawa, who also holds an appointment at the University of Sao Paolo.

Like many linguists, Miyagawa believes all human languages are demonstrably related to each other, something he has examined in his own work. For instance, in his 2010 book, "Why Agree? Why Move?" he analyzed previously unexplored similarities between English, Japanese, and some of the Bantu languages. There are more than 7,000 identified human languages around the globe.

Some scholars have proposed that language capacity dates back a couple of million years, based on the physiological characteristics of other primates. But to Miyagawa, the question is not when primates could utter certain sounds; it is when humans had the cognitive ability to develop language as we know it, combining vocabulary and grammar into a system generating an infinite amount of rules-based expression.

"Human language is qualitatively different because there are two things, words and syntax, working together to create this very complex system," Miyagawa says. "No other animal has a parallel structure in their communication system. And that gives us the ability to generate very sophisticated thoughts and to communicate them to others."

This conception of human language origins also holds that humans had the cognitive capacity for language for some period of time before we constructed our first languages.

"Language is both a cognitive system and a communication system," Miyagawa says. "My guess is prior to 135,000 years ago, it did start out as a private cognitive system, but relatively quickly that turned into a communications system."

So, how can we know when distinctively human language was first used? The archaeological record is invaluable in this regard. Roughly 100,000 years ago, the evidence shows, there was a widespread appearance of symbolic activity, from meaningful markings on objects to the use of fire to produce ochre, a decorative red color.

Like our complex, highly generative language, these symbolic activities are engaged in by people, and no other creatures. As the paper notes, "behaviors compatible with language and the consistent exercise of symbolic thinking are detectable only in the archaeological record of H. sapiens."

Among the co-authors, Tattersall has most prominently propounded the view that language served as a kind of ignition for symbolic thinking and other organized activities.

"Language was the trigger for modern human behavior," Miyagawa says. "Somehow it stimulated human thinking and helped create these kinds of behaviors. If we are right, people were learning from each other [due to language] and encouraging innovations of the types we saw 100,000 years ago."

To be sure, as the authors acknowledge in the paper, other scholars believe there was a more incremental and broad-based development of new activities around 100,000 years ago, involving materials, tools, and social coordination, with language playing a role in this, but not necessarily being the central force.

For his part, Miyagawa recognizes that there is considerable room for further progress in this area of research, but thinks efforts like the current paper are at least steps toward filling out a more detailed picture of language's emergence.

"Our approach is very empirically based, grounded in the latest genetic understanding of early homo sapiens," Miyagawa says. "I think we are on a good research arc, and I hope this will encourage people to look more at human language and evolution."

This research was, in part, supported by the Sao Paolo Excellence Chair awarded to Miyagawa by the Sao Paolo Research Foundation.

Research Report:Linguistic capacity was present in the Homo sapiens population 135 thousand years ago

Related Links
MIT Linguistics
All About Human Beings and How We Got To Be Here

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
ABOUT US
Earliest evidence of human habitation in rainforests uncovered
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Mar 01, 2025
For years, rainforests have been considered inhospitable to early human populations, but a groundbreaking discovery now suggests that humans were living in these dense environments as far back as 150,000 years ago. A new study, published in Nature, provides compelling evidence that human groups occupied rainforests in present-day Cote d'Ivoire much earlier than previously thought, challenging long-held assumptions about the adaptability and dispersal of early Homo sapiens. While our species emerge ... read more

ABOUT US
Milei pledges funds for deluge-stricken Argentine city

Israel to immediately cut off electricity to Gaza, minister says

UK makes manslaughter arrest of ship captain over North Sea crash

US to deploy 600 additional troops to southern border

ABOUT US
Eco-friendly rare earth element separation: A bioinspired solution to an industry challenge

Shein says US tariff hit won't stop fast-fashion flood

Historic fantasy 'Assassin's Creed' sparks bitter battles

Colombian influencer puts the pizzazz into recycling

ABOUT US
Creditors appeal 3 bn lifeline for UK's top water supplier

Take 'precautionary approach' on deep-sea mining: top official tells AFP

Planetary Water Limits Pose Challenge to Geological Resource Production

Talks on divisive deep-sea mining resume in Jamaica

ABOUT US
AI reveals new insights into Antarctic ice flow

Scientists establish link between Earth's orbital shifts and ice age cycles

Global sea ice cover hits record low in February as world continues hot streak

World's sea ice cover hits record low in February

ABOUT US
Dramatic increase in research funding needed to counter productivity slowdown in farming

On the Mongolian steppe, climate change pushes herders to the brink

EU countries back looser rules for gene-edited crops

Enhancing agrivoltaic synergies through optimized tracking strategies

ABOUT US
Florence averts disaster thanks to key floodgate

Quake damages buildings, sparks panic in Italy's Naples

Toll from US weekend tornadoes rises to at least 40

Guatemala volcanic eruption deemed over after spewing lava, evacuations

ABOUT US
Sudan army makes gains as battle for Khartoum intensifies

Sudan paramilitary shelling kills six in key city: medic

EU, South Africa leaders vow deeper ties amid US threats

France begins handover of military bases to Senegal: embassy

ABOUT US
When did human language emerge?

Earliest evidence of human habitation in rainforests uncovered

Pentagon orders removal of pro-diversity online content

The quest to extend human life is both fascinating and fraught with moral peril

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.