Language and the Neanderthals

Neanderthals  had  the capacity to speak just as Modern humans do, at least that is what their genes tell us.  According to Johannes Krause and Svante Pääbo of the Max Planck Institute, in Germany who were part of a European team that studied the Neanderthals genome.  The specific gene is FOXP2, and is known as the speech and language gene. It is found in modern humans but not in primates.

This gene is responsible for allowing humans to make quick movements with their tongue and mouth, among other things.   Some humans who have a disorder of connected with FOXP2 and the result is they can not communicate properly.

The new study does not conclude it is a fact that Neanderthals had language, but rather there is no reason to believe that neanderthals did not have language.  The pieces seem to all be in place.

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Tags: gene, language, Neandertals, Neanderthals, Neanderthals and language, Origin of languages