Earth is home to more than 7,000 languages, and we use those languages to express ideas as straightforward as the desire for a cup of coffee and as intricate as the details of quantum physics. But how did language start and when did humans first evolve this ability to use language?
When Did Humans Develop Language?
The development of human language has long fascinated scholars and linguists. These experts have various perspectives and theories for when humans started speaking and the reasons language evolved in the way that it did. There is much to learn from the laryngeal descent theory, to the arguments made for neurological and intelligence-based speech development.
The Laryngeal Descent Theory
The laryngeal descent theory (LDT) posits that language became possible only after anatomically modern Homo sapiens evolved around 200,000 years to 300,000 years ago. In H. sapiens, the larynx is lower in the throat than in our pre-H. sapiens ancestors or in modern non-human primates.
