Evidence for a biological basis of language acquisition

Biological Basis for Language

Language has long been considered the thing that separates man from the animals. It is our ability to communicate and coordinate that has enabled our species to spread to and control so many diverse climates and situations. Recent research however, as well as a rich history of anecdotal evidence, suggests that the ability to produce something at least approximating speech might not be so unique, after all. Dolphins and whales have been found to communicate using the sounds they produce, though it is unlikely that this could ever be considered language. On the opposite end of the spectrum, animals as diverse as parrots and chinchillas are able to produce sounds using much the same physical mechanisms as human beings. Parrots are even believed to be able understand many of the words they speak. Other research, such as training primates in the use of sign language, proves that we are not the only species capable of acquiring basic language skills. The question remains, however, whether or not there is a unique biological basis for linguistic speech in humans. The answer to this question, given the current state of research both into the neurology and physiology of other species and research conducted on human speech and the speech centers in the brain, the answer to this question is most reasonably a "yes." In addition, even the auditory communication found in other species could not really be considered language; no other species is known to be capable of the abstractions that human language can recall.

It is true that almost no part of the human physiology or anatomy can be said to be solely devoted to producing speech. The mouth and the multitude of articulators it contains -- the teeth, tongue, hard and soft palates, and lips -- are used for the more basic functions of eating and, to a degree, breathing, which certainly cannot be seen as uniquely human phenomena. Other apparatuses involved in speech production, such as vocal chords, appear in many other animals, from other primates to dogs, enabling them to growl. The only part of the human body that can really be said to be devoted to speech in a way totally unique to humans is the brain. There are language centers in the human brain that researchers have yet to find any analogs for in other animals. This supports Noam Chomsky's assertion that language did not simply evolve from animal calls. There are, it is true, all of the biological mechanisms required for speech in many other animals, but language is capable of much more than simply making sounds or even communicating. Language can imagine the future, and express ideas that do not necessarily pertain to the current situation. The difference between the language of humans and the communication abilities of animals, as it is not physically based, must be neurologically based, and research both into human and animal brains and a careful examination of language supports this theory.