James Benstead

Many theories have been proposed to explain the origins of human language. Although there is much literature that covers a wide variety of such theories, this systematic literature review will consolidate and evaluate the evidence available that suggests pre-adaptations to language in the hominid lineage. This was done by researching and reviewing relevant literature by experts in the fields of anthropology, archaeology, psychology, linguistics and neurobiology. The findings revealed there to be many hypotheses: some rather contrasting; others that reinforced one-another, but overall there seems to be a clear divide between the exaptation and adaptation viewpoints. The conclusion that can be drawn from this review is that pre-adaptations for language (of which there are numerous) periodically came into place throughout the evolution of the hominid line. Clearly language has undergone a long and complex evolutionary journey, one which relied heavily on various adaptations to reach its current stage. Persuasive theories on language as an exaptation surely fall by the wayside once we assess how the evidence supports language as an adaptation.