From Hand to Mouth: The Origins of Language

A groundbreaking theory of how language arose from primate gestures

It is often said that speech is what distinguishes us from other animals. But are we all talk? What if language was bequeathed to us not by word of mouth, but as a hand-me-down?

The notion that language evolved not from animal cries but from manual and facial gestures—that, for most of human history, actions have spoken louder than words—has been around since Condillac. But never before has anyone developed a full-fledged the...