How long would it take humans to independently develop language?

[nanook]

hm, maybe just make sure they have to make collective decisions, such as wether to hunt in the north or in the south. have the environment change alot. maybe stories can be communicated in sign language or grunting, but any reasoning requires operators.

 

[BigApplePi]

i haven't read this thread so dunno if this came up already, but there is a chance that more than a certain time and a certain number of people are required, to force them, to develop language.

an analogy is the development of writing. writing came up with the higher degree of organisation of society that is implied by farming, as opposed to the lesser organisation of hunter tribes. the ability (inventing signs) was there before, but no need for this super systematical approach that "writing" is.

maybe monkeys, any number of them, didn't evolve language, because they have never been forced into a situation, wherein in order to survive, they had to become organised in a way, that can't be done with body language and grunting. and beside whatever other ingredients are needed for such a situation, most likely a higher number of monkeys would have to be involved. language allows to keep track of the past, part of that is creating traditional tabus, that can't be communicated without language. "stay away from the north, there are aliens in the north, they will use you for dirty experiments and you will never be seen again"

Suppose we back up on language for the moment. What need precedes languages? Answer: communication. You mentioned monkeys. They are social animals. I assume all social animals need and use communication. So we don't NEED verbal oral language. What are the predecessors? Hawkeye refers to sign language here.

Hello Hawkeye!

One thing to do is examine predecessors and look at how much they are motivated. Humans discovering they have vocal cords are going to use them. It reminds me of this story. Several decades ago I was walking with friends in a public park. There was an unusual sound coming from a strange bird. I immediately let out an "aawk" to imitate the bird. (Not to the benefit of my throat). The person next to me said, "Was that you?" I was flattered I could imitate so well. Now given that unpromted creation of sound, how long do you think it would take humans to create words, put them together and language? Weeks? A month?