Evolution of language articles from across Nature Portfolio

Evolution of language is the gradual change in human language over time. It involves the origin and divergence of languages and language families, and can be considered analogous to biological evolution, although it does not necessarily occur through the same mechanisms.

Latest Research and Reviews

Research
01 February 2023 | Open Access

Reply to: Sunlight exposure cannot explain "grue" languages
- Mathilde Josserand
- , Emma Meeussen
- & Asifa Majid
Scientific Reports 13, 1837
Research | 28 November 2022

Valence-dependent mutation in lexical evolution

This research finds that negative adjectives evolve faster over history than positive adjectives, with limited evidence for other parts of speech. Individual people are also more likely to replace negative words than positive words.
- Joshua Conrad Jackson
- , Kristen Lindquist
- & Joseph Watts
Nature Human Behaviour 7, 190-199
Research
10 November 2022 | Open Access

Evidence for compositionality in baboons (Papio papio) through the test case of negation
- Isabelle Dautriche
- , Brian Buccola
- & Emmanuel Chemla
Scientific Reports 12, 19181
Research
24 September 2022 | Open Access

Experimental evidence for core-Merge in the vocal communication system of a wild passerine

It has been hypothesized that language depends on a capacity to produce and recognize two items (e.g., “come” + “talk”) as a single unit (e.g., “come talk”). Here, the authors show that a wild passerine also uses this capacity in vocal communication.
- Toshitaka N. Suzuki
- & Yui K. Matsumoto
Nature Communications 13, 5605
Research
11 July 2022 | Open Access

Cumulative cultural evolution and mechanisms for cultural selection in wild bird songs

Cumulative cultural evolution is ubiquitous in humans, but is rarely observed in non-human animals. Here, Williams et al. report elaboration of songs over several decades in Savannah sparrows, consistent with cumulative cultural evolution.
- Heather Williams
- , Andrew Scharf
- & Julie C. Blackwood
Nature Communications 13, 4001
Research
30 May 2022 | Open Access

Song complexity is maintained during inter-population cultural transmission of humpback whale songs
- Jenny A Allen
- , Ellen C. Garland
- & Michael J. Noad
Scientific Reports 12, 8999

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News and Comment

Research Highlights | 04 September 2018

You say tomato
- Abigail Klopper
Nature Physics 14, 872
Research Highlights | 09 August 2018

FOXP2 tells a cautionary tale

A study in Cell challenges the existing notion of the evolution of FOXP2 as a human-specific language gene.
- Rebecca Furlong
Nature Reviews Genetics 19, 592-593
Editorial | 23 March 2018

Language lessons

Language is a fundamental human characteristic. Its origins and development can inform our understanding of human ecology and evolution, and evolutionary biology methods can be fruitfully applied to linguistics in turn.

Nature Ecology & Evolution 2, 579
Research Highlights | 02 November 2017

Understanding language change
- Stavroula Kousta
Nature Human Behaviour 1, 779
Comments & Opinion | 31 July 2017

Towards an integrated science of language

It has long been assumed that grammar is a system of abstract rules, that the world's languages follow universal patterns, and that we are born with a ‘language instinct’. But an alternative paradigm that focuses on how we learn and use language is emerging, overturning these assumptions and many more.
- Morten H. Christiansen
- & Nick Chater
Nature Human Behaviour 1, 0163
Research Highlights | 18 February 2015

Phoneme–genome data set evolves
- Orli G. Bahcall
Nature Reviews Genetics 16, 128-129

All News & Comment

Evolution of language articles from across Nature Portfolio

Latest Research and Reviews

Reply to: Sunlight exposure cannot explain "grue" languages

Valence-dependent mutation in lexical evolution

Evidence for compositionality in baboons (Papio papio) through the test case of negation

Experimental evidence for core-Merge in the vocal communication system of a wild passerine

Cumulative cultural evolution and mechanisms for cultural selection in wild bird songs

Song complexity is maintained during inter-population cultural transmission of humpback whale songs

News and Comment

You say tomato

FOXP2 tells a cautionary tale

Language lessons

Understanding language change

Towards an integrated science of language

Phoneme–genome data set evolves

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