GMAT 考满分题库

     Linguists have offered two explanations describing the origins of language among human populations. Because the use of language is universal among ethno-cultural groups and distinct from any communicative capacity developed elsewhere in the animal kingdom, both explanations assert that the biological evolution of the human organism has exerted some influence on the development of language.

     Proponents of explanation A, or the “continuity theory,” take issue with the suggestion that the development of language occurred fairly suddenly in the course of human evolution. Observations have shown that non-human animals communicate, even in surprisingly complex ways, within kin groups and across species. Human language is incredibly complex and it is difficult to assert that such a complex system could have developed without a long series of evolutionary iterations. Thus it is useful to consider the communication methods of other organisms as analogues to the possible stages of human linguistic development. Scientists have also suggested that human communicative capacities are evolutionary adaptations similar to echolocation among bats or stereopsis among lesser primates: unique abilities particular to the human organism but nonetheless the product of long-form evolutionary processes.

     However, explanation A is not uncontroversial. Critics point out that human language far outstrips the complexity of any known animal communication mechanism and that, therefore, any hypothesis emphasizing iterative development is of limited explanatory utility. They argue that any evolutionary development as unprecedented as human language must have a comparably unprecedented explanation. They support explanation B, “the discontinuity theory,” which can be understood in multiple ways.

     Language, some proponents of explanation B argue, requires an advanced cognitive capacity that pre-human primates (hominids) did not possess. Modern humans achieved language function through the relatively abrupt development of advanced brain anatomy, the “language organ.” This development is supposedly the result of a significant mutation within the human genome. Sudden mutations often have negative effects, making this instance all the more peculiar. Another understanding of the “discontinuity theory” suggests the sudden development of language among human populations is due to a social revolution among early human communities. Even if early human populations had already developed the capacity for language, it went undeveloped until social and cultural factors demanded otherwise. Early human communities can be compared to naturally talented basketball players whose skills go unrecognized until they're scouted by a perceptive coach.