Some people have supposed that the evolution of language was a gradual long-range process while others contend that it occurred over a short time span. I intend to show that putting the debate in terms of these two alternatives is misleading, as the situation is more complex than they allow for, so that the question cannot be given either of these two simple answers. This issue is related to the relationship between language evolution and the evolution of the brain. It has been proposed (Deacon 1997, Schoenemann 2009) that the gradual evolution of language contributed to the evolution of the brain and vice-versa – the co-evolution theory. While attractive at first glance, this theory has serious problems. The real explanation for the great increase in brain capacity of humans lies elsewhere, in an altogether unsuspected non-linguistic realm. Moreover, the development of language required evolutionary change outside of the brain, namely in the vocal apparatus.

Reception to follow in Reed 322

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This event is sponsored the Linguistics and Cognitve Science Program.