1	Language Evolution – H. Sapiens 150,000 yrs ago the necessary anatomy of the mouth and throat is in place for the possibility of speech Brain evolves changes that permit the evolution of syntactic language with grammatical rules and structure.
2	The Vocal Apparatus The throat becomes longer The soft palate and pharynx move up The Epiglottis and Larynx move down Hyoid bone in place, supporting muscles of the tongue to the throat. (Hyoid appears only in H. Sapiens Neanderthals and H. Sapiens Sapiens.)
3	The Modern Human Brain
4	Brain Organization Endocasts of fossil skulls reflect the general shape and arrangement of the brain and its parts throughout evolutionary time. Cerebrum – concerned with the complexities of behavior. Lateralization – division of tasks in the brain – language primarily in the left hemisphere.
5	Broca’s Area Discovered by Paul Broca Controls the motor aspects of speech People suffering from Broca’s Aphasia can usually understand words, but have trouble with the output of speech.
6	Paul Broca (1824-1880)
7	Wernicke’s Area Crucial for Language Comprehension
8	Why study language disorders? Observing language impairments provided much of the early understanding of the brain mechanisms involved in language. Fox P2 gene was discovered by studying language impairment of a particular family in England.
9	Hypoglossal Nerve Effective for movement of the tongue in pronounciation Twice the thickness of that in chimps Began to appear around 500,000 yrs ago
10	What happens next? H. sapiens apply symbolic meaning to their utterances. These utterances stand in for objects that are not present – “naming insight.”
11	Problem Each individual may develop his own way of naming objects in an arbitrary manner, thus making communication difficult.
12	Solution Consistency in use of utterances to denote an object or thought occur upon modification of naming systems by some of the agents in the population to form a common vocabulary. Imitation of one another may explain the formation of a common vocabulary among groups. Effective communication between individuals may have led to the cultural explosion that occurred approximately 50,000 yrs ago.
13	Good bye.
14	Bibliography Price, T. Douglas, Gary N. Feinman, Images of the Past. Mayfield publishing company, 2001. Gray, Peter. Psychology. Worth Publishing, New York, NY. 1994. <http://www.psych.ualberta.ca/~mike/Pearl_Street/Dictionary/contents/W/wernickes_area.html> http://www.sci.uidaho.edu/med532/Broca.htm Ke, Jinyun, James W. Minett, Ching-Pong Au, William S. –Y. Wang, Self-organization and Selection in the Emergence of Vocabulary, Wiley Periodicals, Inc., 2002.