The evolutionary emergence of meaning

According to Darwin, the difference in mind between humans and higher animals is one of degree and not of kind. The study of human cognitive competences however reveals several operations that make sense only in relation to language. For instance, the way we combine meanings or form predicates have no evident behavioural role, except that they are crucial to tell narratives or to take part in rational discussions. It is tempting to regard these cognitive mechanisms as characteristics of our species, and to consider that they emerged in some definite order during the phylogenetic history of our species, to fulfil particular language functions.