The origins of language in human evolution

Any reflection about the origins and development of language is not speculation free. Despite the difficulties of researching human evolution from a psychological perspective, we consider it necessary that behavioural sciences contribute, with their vision, to the comprehension of those events that made us human. The aim of this article has been to review and analyse the most significant publications concerning the phylogeny of language and communication. After a basic introduction to key concepts in evolutionary anthropology, there is a first part with a thorough examination of the most significant elements at the basis of the hypotheses about the origins of language. In a second section, once interrelated and interpreted all the data, an explanation is proposed about the origins of language, highlighting those aspects that we consider particularly interesting, such as the emergence of signs and the role of gesture as the seed of oral language.