The rules of syntax and intonation and words matured over time into the system we have today because they were progressively refined by use and the forge of survival and reproduction – not because the brain got big and complicated for some other reason, and all of a sudden we discovered we could now manipulate symbols as well.

The rules of syntax and intonation and words matured over time into the system we have today because they were progressively refined by use and the forge of survival and reproduction – not because the brain got big and complicated for some other reason, and all of a sudden we discovered we could now manipulate symbols as well.

– Christine Kenneally –

The First Word: The Search for the Origins of Language

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