Study Reveals Human Language Capacity Emerged 135,000 Years Ago

Genetic evidence links linguistic ability to early Homo sapiens, predating symbolic behaviors by 35,000 years.

Research published in Frontiers in Psychology establishes that humans developed the capacity for language at least 135,000 years ago, based on genomic studies of early population splits.
The study reviewed 15 genetic analyses, including whole-genome and mitochondrial DNA studies, to pinpoint the timeline of linguistic emergence.
Findings challenge earlier theories, such as Noam Chomsky's proposal that language developed around 50,000 years ago, calling this timeline implausible.
Language likely played a critical role in the emergence of symbolic behaviors and cultural innovations, which became widespread approximately 100,000 years ago.
The universality of structural features across the 7,000 modern languages suggests a shared linguistic origin before the first population divergence of Homo sapiens.