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Human linguistic ability derives from a number of biological mechanisms which include speech and syntax. Though fully developed human speech and syntax are species-specific, they evolved by means of Darwinian natural selection from (A) anatomy that initially evolved for vegetative ends and (B) neural mechanisms adapted for precise motor control. The preadaptive role of brain lateralization for one-handed gestures and speech production is noted. Data derived from the comparative study of non-human primates and the linguistic deficits caused by Broca's aphasia and Parkinson's disease is presented that it is consistent with this view. The fossil record is also discussed since, in certain cases, the morphology of the basicranium can be used to reconstruct the supralaryngeal airway of a fossil hominid. The supralaryngeal airway is, in turn, an index for the presence of neural mechanisms adapted for the control of human speech. Modern speech capabilities appear to have existed at least 100,000 year ago. Like many other aspects of human behavior, language derives from a number of different biological components. These include the ability to produce and perceive the sound of speech, using and learning words, and the creative use of the complex "rules' of syntax. The focus of this paper is on speech and syntax which appear to be species-specific. Recent studies have shown that closely related species like chimpanzees can, to a degree, acquire and use words when they use manual systems like sign language. In contrast, no other living animal is able to make use of human speech and syntax. Most human languages use syntactic "rules' that order the words of a sentence to convey meaning, e.g. John saw Mary, versus Mary saw John. The meanings of words also can be systematically modified by "morphemes' — sounds that convey meaning. For example, the past tense of regular English verbs is conveyed by the morpheme transcribed by the letters ed — walk versus walked, laugh versus laughed, etc. The rules that we follow to convey meaning by modifying words constitute "morphology." The boundary between syntax and morphology is not hard and fast. A speaker of English, for example, must coordinate the morphemes that convey number in verbs and nouns by means of syntactic rules that operate across the entire sentence: The boy is here. versus The boys are here. Languages differ as to how they make use of syntactic rules and morphemes and syntactic rules therefore differ from one language to the next. Adjective that go before a noun in English go after the noun in French: the blue house versus la maison bleu. Some languages use few complex syntactic rules.

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-2039-7_21

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