Science does not know exactly when human language came, but a recent study shows that it was already a skill developed by the Homo sapiens At least 135 thousand years ago. And proposes that it was the trigger for the disseminated emergence of modern human behaviors, such as body decoration and the use of symbolic patterns.
The research was coordinated by linguist Shigeru Miyagawa, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and published in the magazine Frontiers in Psychology. Miyagawa is also a visiting professor at the Institute of Biosciences at the University of São Paulo (IB-USP), where he coordinates a project Supported by FAPESP through the São Paulo Excellence Chair (Spec) program.
Genomic studies indicate that the first population division of our species occurred around that date: 135 thousand years ago. And Miyagawa and collaborators argue that the universality of language among current human populations implies that all lineages originated from the first division of Homo sapiens They already had full linguistic capacity. Otherwise, it would be expected that some modern populations had no language, as we know it, which does not happen. This argument does not say exactly when the language arose, but indicates with good accuracy the later moment it should already be present.
Based on this argument, the article on the agenda proposes that language may have been the trigger for the emergence of modern human behaviors, which spread around 100,000 years ago.
In an interview with Agency FAPESP Miyagawa states that the fact that all current human beings share the linguistic ability points to a common origin of language, much prior to the linguistic diversity observed today.
According to the researcher, linguistic capacity allowed the development of abstract thinking and complex communication of human beings, functioning as a trigger for the systematic emergence of cultural and symbolic behaviors around 100,000 years ago.
In addition, research suggests that language has arisen from the combination of existing simple systems, such as bird singing and primate alert shouts. Another point suggested by the study is that all modern languages descend from the same linguistic trunk, reinforcing the idea of the common origin of language.
Although the article focuses on Homo sapiensMiyagawa points out that other extinct human species also had forms of communication, even more rudimentary. He advocates a less -centered view of the human being and points out that elements of language already existed in nature, as in the birds of birds and the screams of primate alertness.
As a next step, the Spec project, supported by FAPESP, seeks to investigate communicative systems in animals such as monkeys, birds and frogs to better understand the biological foundations of language.
The article Linguist Capacity was present in the homo sapiens population 135 thousand years ago can be accessed at: www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1503900/full .
*With information from José Tadeu Arantes, from Agência FAPESP
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This content was originally published in human language was already present at least 135,000 years ago on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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