How did we go from grunts and “ooh”s and “ah”s to complex modern languages? And why haven’t other animals done the same?
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Our early ancestors got some of their food by throwing things. Accurate throwing involves a series of movements that must be performed in correct sequence, too rapid for corrections once it’s started. It has been conjectured that this sequencing talent was adapted for the intricate sequence of mouth movements that is meaningful speech.
This doesn’t quite tell you how humans did it, but it may tell you why most animals don’t.
Once people were able to speak and understand very simple language, suddenly there was a selective advantage to the ability to speak and understand *more complex* language, which is how we got from “gimme banana” to, well, the rest of it.
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