Origin of speech

The emergence of spoken language in humans through biological adaptations and cultural change. Its timing and evolutionary pathway remain uncertain because speech leaves no direct fossil record.

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Language: A structured system of symbols and rules used to communicate meaning. Speech is one way humans express language, not language itself.
Larynx: A structure in the throat containing the vocal folds and regulating airflow into the lower airway. The vocal folds generate voiced sound that the rest of the vocal tract shapes.
Neanderthal language: The debated capacity of Neanderthals to communicate through language, including spoken language. Neanderthals provide evidence about how far speech capacities predate modern humans.
Bow-wow theory: A proposal that spoken language began by imitating sounds in nature. It is one historical answer to the unresolved question of how words first arose.
Cumulative culture: Cultural knowledge that builds across generations through preservation and improvement of innovations. Speech can make complex skills and knowledge easier to transmit and refine.
Vocal learning: The ability to modify vocalizations by imitating sounds heard from others. Learned vocal control could help transmit speech sounds across generations.
Cortical control of speech: The brain's control of the movements used to produce speech. Speech requires precise, coordinated control of breathing, phonation, and articulation.
Homo erectus: An extinct human species that lived in Africa and Eurasia for nearly two million years. Its anatomy and dispersal feature in hypotheses about early speech capabilities.
Gesture-first theory: The hypothesis that language began primarily through manual gestures before becoming vocal. It offers a competing route from communication to spoken language.
Oral tradition: The transmission of stories, knowledge, and customs through spoken performance across generations. Spoken language enabled traditions to persist without writing.