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In my opinion, the biggest mystery is not why we humans developed language, but why nobody else did. (Mark Liberman) http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002239.htmlSo why the difference between our species and others?
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> but why nobody else did
don't they?
dolphins, whales?
formerly known as etaoin...
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So why the difference between our species and others? Well, here's a hint: http://pubpages.unh.edu/~jel/Ldev.html I'm too tired at the moment, and not professionally qualified anyway, to get into detailed explanation, but in essence: biology. We have bigger, better brains; to say nothing of mouth and vocal cord structure. The blog summarized in mav's link basically said in 12,000 words, allegedly, what we talked about here ages ago: essentially, that language developed out of need. The need for survival, that is. As in, "gurf" + [point] + [two-arm wave], then "oog" + [hand slashing across throat] = "Y'all head over thataway and run the critter toward me, and I'll kill it". Etc. Here's an explanation by y'all's friend: http://www.chomsky.info/articles/1978----.htm
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even more telling is humans have the ability to understand the past, and how it influences the present, and the future.
an animal might be able to catch a trace of a scent, and know a lion has been near by, recently.. but a human can see (though often not smell the scent of lion) and look at its tracks and KNOW which when the lion went.)
human see the world differently--(and we rely on sight more than scent) and we can see a lion's prints in the sand, and know, by looking at them,--with some training--how old they are, and with almost no training, what way the lion was going.
animals can smell a lion and think --Lion was here.. not here now... look around not see or smell 'fresh lion' and go on.
they can't see the lion tracks and know --Lion went north (i'll go south) it can only hope that the lion isn't up wind of it. --and if it is, and it can't get a scent fix, it will walk along the same path the lion did--oblivious to the tracks the lion layed down.
Humans can see a lion's tracks, know --a lion was here (recently)about as effectively as an animal can with scent --but it can also--trace back were the lion came from and where its is headed.
humans know if you follow a lions tracks at the end, there is a lion (and we had an interest in killing of prediors that competed with us, (and that also saw us as prey!)
the same tracking skills were used to hunt prey by humans.
the cognative brain delevopement (that allows us to see tracks and understand what they mean) also allowed for the developement of language.
we not only need a 'call' for--Lion, NOW, lion but one for Lion WAS here, -and Lion WENT THAT WAY. (or even Lion WILL BE BACK) and that is part of language. past, present, future.
animals can remember some of the past, and repeat actions, but they can't think to the future.
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Yes, all valid points to some extent.
> don't they?
dolphins, whales?
That was my first reaction, eta - doubtless influenced by the fact I've just been reading Elaine Morgan's The Aquatic Ape, in which she synthesises the scientific evidence and theories suggesting an important period of human evolution that would place us in a directly analagous state to other water-based mammals, not least in terms of brain development and language and social organisation.
Does anyone know what more up-to-date thinking is on these theories? (meanwhile, keep on eating those omega-3 fatty acids!)
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even more telling is humans have the ability to understand the past, and how it influences the present, and the future. Helen--that's excellent! to some extent to some extent?? Awwright, you, just what are you after? 
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Well, I'm just not sure of the starting point. Are we unique, a complete difference of quality, or is the difference in language largely a quantitative one? And doesn't the cognitive functionality that allows us to make patterns of the kind Helen describes stem from language use - a post facto accretion, in other words?
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Gotcha. Thanks. I'm going with yes on Are we unique, a complete difference of quality . Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that your last sentence in the post above could be taken to mean that if we humans have developed pattern-making functionality as a result of language use, then at least some animals ought to have been able to do that also. But they haven't. Even all the work with sign language in lower primates has not given them the fluidity and the nuance capability that we have. Here's one reason I voted for our uniqueness: ...the neocortex is assumed to be the superior ("neomammalian") part of the brain, which makes up the majority of the cerebral hemispheres. Species which are considered to be highly intelligent, such as humans and dolphins, tend to have large amounts of neocortex. This structure is assumed to be responsible for higher cognitive functions and is associated with greatest behavioral complexity. This was from a link to a discussion of intelligence at this neat website: http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/kinser/Home1.htmlI think it's neat because it's easy for those of us nearer the ignorant end of the biology-knowlege spectrum to find things. The link also offers this interesting comment, mav, which I think speaks more to what you were saying--or to the discussion you were trying to engender?--although it does not refer to language:
Often we define intelligence with respect to human qualities. Thus, as we tend to consider ourselves as the most intelligent species, we compare other species to ourselves. Yet, is this really possible? One scientist suggests that humans tend to ignore any intelligence that is somewhat different than our own: "We willingly accept the idea of intelligence in a lifeform only if the intelligence displayed is on the same evolutionary wavelength as our own. Technology automicatically indicates intelligence. An absence of technology translates into an absence of intelligence."
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Pooh-Bah
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of Troy I think you are underestimating the cognitive skills of at least some of the great apes. You would enjoy Jane Goodall's wonderful books about her study of chimpanzees, In the Shadow of Man and Through a Window. The chimps have some impressive abilities that I was unaware of until I read those books. You will have no doubt that they are able to not only think about the future, but also conceive of solutions to problems and then carry them out. They are also aware of the past and grieve over the deaths of loved ones.
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